Future of the Past
by CeeDee
Summary: (1x2)The threads of time have been altered and the Duo that every one knew isn't what he seems to be. After the EW, the pilots walked out of each other lives, but now a great danger looms. They are back together again... this time maybe even a bit...
1. Nemamiah

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: ?  
Pairing: 1x2, 43 (eventually)  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them, used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.  
copyright 2004/2005 by CeeDee, exept the boys/girls and all other trademarks and copyrights, hich are the property of their respective owners

Notes: Several years after the wars, the pilots have grown apart. When they meet again under unusual circumstances and an impending new war, will they be able to fight again, together?

Many thanks for Ellimaru for most helpful, throughout and work intensive betaing. Also to May Chang and Sakusha for useful hints and tips, as well as content and flow check, and, of course, to all of them for providing assistance in my helpless twist of words.

**Future of the Past - ****# 1 Nemamiah**

sacred being/a guardian angel of all those who fight for just  
causes. He is especially protective towards people who defend  
the rights of those who cannot defend themselves, such as  
animals and children.

"Last chance... you sure, kid?"

"Yeah, Howie." Zipping up my spacesuit and strapping on the harness in the pilot seat, I smiled gently at the vid screen. "Y'know, I'll miss ya, old man."

Howard grimaced. "I still think this isn't a good idea, kid. Out there all by yourself." He shook his head. "Deep space without company. With an untested drive."

"We've had this discussion, Howie." I forced a grin while I programmed my course with swift keystrokes. "Several times. I'd just rather not endanger other people. Besides, everything else I cooked up so far tested out just fine. This one will work out fine, too."

"Right," The screen showed Howard scowling. "You and your devil's luck. The hell with you."

"Love ya too, Howie," I blew him a raspberry. "Ya now, Ezgadi 'n me, we'll be just fine. Don't worry old man. Come on; let's get this baby on the road. I have a date with Luna control." Pulling up the screens, I keyed in the commands for activating the AI. "Ezgadi, baby, you with me?"

"_All systems green, Duo. We are clear to go,"_ the ship's AI responded.

"See, Howie, I'm not all alone. See ya in a few, or earlier," I glance back at the vid screen. "Besides, we won't be out of communication range until I'm beyond Saturn." I paused to gnaw at my lip. "I think."

"You think?" Howard's shoulders tightened. "Duo, you..."

"It was a joke... okay?" I swiftly interrupted the rant I knew was coming. "Jesus, Howie, don't get all cocked up. Everything's under control. Let's see how fast this baby really is. We'll make a u-turn at Uranus; I promise." I winked at him. "See, if the drive is as good as I think it is we'll be back way earlier than you believe."

"I know, brat. But..." Howard frowned. "It's hard to believe. Our fastest space shuttle to Mars needs three months for these 0,3 Astronomic Units. Uranus is 21 AU's away, 12 years one way. It's kinda hard to believe you cooked up a drive making it in a third of the time. Even when..." He looked a little more than worried. He looked like... he would start to cry.

"I know, old man, I know. A little trust here." I sighed. "I've done my math, and besides, Ezgadi is on my side here. You'll see, I won't be away 8 years." Looking at him now, it seemed unfair to leave him in the dark, in such a worry. "You'll see me again. And take care of Hilde and our Invent Techs for me, okay?"

"Yeah, kid. I believe in you and your AI." Howard sniffed as he keyed in commands on his side. "Docking clamps opened. Ready when you are, brat. Be safe, you hear me?"

"Bye Howie." I made a decision. "See ya in, say, ten months or so." I chuckled softly as I saw the flabbergasted look on Howard's face while shutting down the vid screen, queuing up music and firing up the main engine. Time to plot trajectory and get ready for the ascent. I did it in my head, then verified it with the AI. "Ezgadi, bring us out of here, girl. Speed 30 percent engine drive capacity until Luna control or engine problems." I grimaced. "I hope I haven't jinxed our mission, now, babe. Go is on zero. Roger?"

"_Acknowledged, Duo."_ Ezgadi's AI replied.

"Three... two... one... zero." I felt the vibration of the boosters kicking in, as the ship made its launch from our satellite factory towards the moon. The old satellite was Howard's investment in our company. I relaxed in my seat after a last check, ready for things to come.

I had needed a out-of-the-way place for my inventions. At first I had - naïve as I was - trooped to Quatre's and asked. He had looked at me like a parent looks at a small child with an incredulous idea, smiled softly and ruefully and mentioned that if I wanted to 'play with things' I could work for him in one of his labs. I had been disappointed over his lack in trust and turned on my heel. Next stop was at Howie's door, and now we were partners at Invent Techs on an old ex-sweepers satellite. A very successful company, by the way. I had built this ship on a whim, driven by these strange dreams I had for the last three years, which had forced me to create all that other shit, too, and now I was eager to test the new drive. The lab tests had been overwhelming, and no one, not even Howard, knew the exact results. I needed to test it live. And, I have to do it on my own. Because... because there was no one else I could ask to go with me.

My ship was a small, lean shuttle design, cockpit, three cabins, a bathroom and the galley besides the freight area. One of the cabins I had redone as a gym for my hopefully not so long stay in space. I was fairly proud of it. I had built it for speed; we meant to sell it to emergency units on the colonies and moon, enabling them to react faster to accidents in space – maybe even for fast courier trips to and from Mars. I checked the time. One hour and a half had passed. So far, everything was going smoothly.

"Ezgadi, status."

"_All systems are green and stable, Duo. Energy level is one hundred percent. No malfunction. Estimated time passing Luna station based on yet covered distance four hours and sixteen minutes."_

"Whoa." I pulled up the screens. "You sure we're on thirty percent? We estimated fifteen hours."

"_Affirmative. Live data proves an unpredicted effect as in potential increasing speed by constant drive. Do you wish me to adjust the drive to keep the estimate?" _

I was surprised. Normal shuttles would need two and a half days to Luna station. Howie still was skeptical about the output of ours, but so far, Ezgadi outdid my wildest expectations. What would that mean to my trip to Uranus? "No, Ezgadi. Monitor and record live speed by thirty percent for analysis. Notify me five minutes before Luna control docking procedure."

"_Copy, Duo."_

With a grunt, I opened my harness and got up to fetch a soda from the galley. I had to grin as I stood in front of the replicator and keyed in my request; soda, cold. That, too, was one of my cooked up things I was especially proud of. I had, by accident, put in an apple and replicated it. We had sent the apples to eight different labs for analysis. From the shine of the skin, down to the core, vitamins included, no one could tell the difference between one of the replicated apples from one picked right off a tree.

Now, each orphanage and church on L2 had one of our replicators. They produced food and clothing hell, if you had the programming unit and feed them a part of a Gundam, they could replicate it. But, the single existing programming unit was securely stored away. Call me paranoid, I knew what this machine could create and was well aware that, someone, somewhere, would misuse it for military or terrorist causes. That's not a chance I would take.

So far, no one but Howard and I knew about the true capabilities of them. I trusted he would keep it that way. There had been quite a few unfriendly confrontations with some delegations form the industries, which supplied the colonies so far, but we had made it clear that the replicators would be used for space travel or bases only. They would not be available to the general public – except in areas where people were starving and in need. We pointed out to the delegations that, if they didn't want more profit cutting replicators around, they would have to find another way to prevent people from starving. Kind of blackmail, I know, but in this case, I didn't care. It produced quite anuproar among them. They came up with astronomical sums to get the patents away from us, but to help people in need was important to me, and for once, I was able to do something to help. No orphaned child would have to starve anymore if I had a say in it.

At first, the orphanages we propositioned were quite skeptical. But after a few live demonstrations, and as I peeled a replicated juicy orange and devoured it in front of them, they became more than interested. Who cares if the goods to feed and clad the children came from a tree on Earth or a machine in the colonies? Especially, when it came in a much cheaper way, for costs on energy only?

I was ripped from my thoughts as a chime over the ship wide speakers announced the approach to Luna control,and found I had emptied my soda while deep in thought and spent the remaining hours daydreaming. I wandered back to the cockpit, strapped down in my harness and opened a channel. "Luna control, this is Captain Maxwell in spaceship Ezgadi IT-001-A. Do you copy?"

A male voice answered, "Proceed, Ezgadi."

"Request permission for docking at Luna control in five."

A chocking laugh was heard. "You anewbie, Ezgadi? You don't need to request permission five hours in advance. Distance indicates..." He squeaked and sputtered, "...what the hell?"

"Right, buddy. Five minutes until docking procedure. I really, really need the data, now."

"Umm ...right." There was a tale-telling pause. "Um,... Hangar three. Sending data."

"Thanks, man. Please get someone down to unload my craft. Your food supply is coming in." My fingers flew over the controls, programming the provided data to follow docking procedure.

"You... oh, okay. Your ship... is, um... awful fast." He sounded breathless.

"Yeah, man. That she is."

I grinned while typing in commands. No shit. I imagined his yaw hanging on the floor as he monitored his screen. And that with the speed at only thirty percent. Knowing he would record the approach and the docking, I knew that I had to warn Howie about incoming inquiries as soon as I turned my back and the personnel identified our Company's signature on the hull. Shove it, Quatre. I don't need your handouts.

The Ezgadi had a sleek form and I found her beautiful. Okay, so I designed her myself. Of course I found her beautiful. The outer hull was painted black and gundanium covered to prevent it from being damaged and pierced by impact with the particles or very small meteoroids drifting through space. I had to reevaluate the impact drives with this newly discovered speed. It could be critical.

"_Three minutes until touchdown. Engage breaking thrusters. Three, two, one, zero,"_ the voice of my ship announced, and I winced. Every time someone said 'zero' I was reminded of Wing Zero. And Wing Zero reminded me of Heero.

I looked up at the outboard screens. There was, except visual, no noticeable change in movement by the brutal maneuver of the ship, but I could feel the massive vibrations as the thrusters worked.

"Don't break down on me, Ezgadi," I called out.

"_Sensors indicate structure stress within optimal parameters. Descending to hangar," _Ezgadi announced.

"Good girl." I shook my head and observed the approach of the hangar. Ezgadi could dock perfectly on her own. Provided that the programmed data was correct, of course. She would proceed, until a human hand touched the control stick and took over. I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest to prevent my twitching fingers from reaching for the stick. We needed life data, and this was a part of it. As I felt the clang of the docking clamps, I relaxed my shoulders forcefully. Okay, so I had been a little worried. So? It was her first live solo maneuver outside testing parameters. And with me on board. So sue me.

As I opened the loading ramp I was instantly taken aback at the flock of people surrounding us. The hangar was packed. The guy in control must have made a little announcement over the record speed. Shit. I instantly was glad I locked the hatch between thefreight area and the rest of the ship to protect us from spying eyes, and forced a grin on my face as I sauntered down the ramp. Immediately I was bombarded with questions.

"... what make ..."

"How fast ..."

"... how much ..."

"... material ..."

"... engine technology ..."

I opened my mouth, but it was impossible to interrupt the wild chatter. So I stood stubbornly mute, at the end of the ramp with my feet shoulder width apart, arms crossed over my chest, daring anyone to approach my ship. I tilted my head and looked, relieved, at the commanding officer, who came flying around the corner of the hangar doors. He stopped abruptly at the sight of so many people and released a shrill, sharp whistle. Instantly the noise ebbed down.

"Everybody back to work, now," he bellowed. The sound resonated through the  
hanger. My, the guy had a set of lungs.

There were mumbles of protest, but the crowd thinned noticeably. I stepped down from the ramp as three workers with lifting devices came my way, apparently for unloading my freight. The commander came up to stand beside me. "Sorry about that, but you are early. I had instructed the next shift."

"Yeah, what can I say," I scowled to myself as I stared at my feet, "I had back winds?" We had made an agreement that the ship was to stay secret as I had cleared the delivery beforehand. Apparently, in my excitement I had missed informing him of my early arrival. I shrugged "Busted. Can't be changed now."

He stepped back and sized up my baby. "Nice design."

"Thanks." I observed the workers in the belly of the freight room and plucked my com unit out of the pocket of my flight suit. After arranging it on my left ear, I waited until they had made their exit with their load and then quietly instructed the AI to lock down and secure the ship.

"Still someone in there?" The commander asked as the ramp descended and the hatch closed.

"Voice controlled."

He whistled quietly. As we stepped through the hangar doors, the ship's voice announced in a sharp tone over the outside speaker, "_Please step back. You will be paralyzed if you touch my body."_

I burst out in laughter as the commander beside me jolted and whirled around. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a worker in the distance jumping away from the ship.

"Anti theft device," I said proudly. "If anyone touches her despite the warning, they will be shocked. Works almost like a stun gun. She kind of doesn't like her personal space invaded."

"Ah," he said slowly, while turning back and walking again.

I fell in step with him. "So," I sighed, "where's my playground?"

He looked surprised as he led the way. "You install the replicators yourself?"

"Yep," I nodded. "It's no big deal. They're practically ready to go. Just mount and connect. Did you clear the space in the canteen? I'm hungry and haven't had dinner, yet." I grinned at him as he nodded. "Can I invite you? My treat."

"You eat this... food yourself?" He looked skeptical.

"Of course," I chuckled.

"What...," he looked sheepish as he cleared his throat, "what kind of... food is it?"

"Oh, you see," I shrugged. "We've programmed three complete cookbooks each from seven different countries. Then there are all known sorts of fruits and vegetables, beverages, coffees, teas, beers and hard liqueurs. The menu is quite long."

He gaped.

I smirked.

The rest of the walk to the canteen was silent and then, while I installed the three replicators, the canteen began to crowd. Putting away the tools, I stood and turned.

"Okay, people. This is how it works," I tapped the button marked 'menu' and a side screen lit up and displayed the country to select. "Touch thescreen, see? Oh, and you can study the manual, of course."

I selected 'American', 'dinner', 'meatloaf', 'potatoes', 'carrots', opened the latch and picked the filled plate from the machine. Then I selected 'beverages', 'soda' and took out a cup of fizzing caffeine. "That's it." I turned to find a table and found the crew gaping as if I had created a miracle. They moved to let me pass. Grinning I sat down and stared at my plate. "Damn. Silverware," I muttered, as a hand held the missed tools in front of my face. I looked up and stared at the commander, standing unsure, with a food-filled plate in his other hand. I then noticed amused that the gawking crowd had shifted around my table. Apparently the crew was unsure about the safety of synthesized food.

"Oh, good lord," I muttered as I dug in, "a little confidence here, please?"

tbc


	2. Bethor

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: ?  
Pairing: 1x2, 43, eventually  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them, used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.  
  
Notes: Several years after the wars, the pilots have grown apart. When they meet again under unusual circumstances and an impending new war, will they be able to fight again, together?

As before, many thanks for Ellimaru for most helpful, throughout and work intensive betaing.

**  
**

**Future of the Past - ****# 2 Bethor**

A powerful angel, one of the seven angelic beings ruling the 196 divisions  
of heaven. To assist him in his work, Bethor commands some 29,000 legions  
of angels. His area of authority also extends to everything related to the  
planet Jupiter, part of the ancient belief of each planet, star, and phenomenon  
of nature having its own angelic patron or ruler

-------------------------------------

It was so damned quiet. Closing my eyes I rubbed my forehead and put the book aside as I stretched out on the bunk in my cabin. It was the twentieth day. We had made astonishing progress. Howard was ecstatic. Tomorrow we, Ezgadi and I, would pass Jupiter.

As I left Luna station, I checked the surveillance tapes. They showed that there had been two people sneaking around the ship with poorly hidden, obvious devices. I had warned Howard, and actually, there had been video footage, speculations and Invent Techs all over in the news. We had been found out. One day later Quatre had called. And the day after, all hell brook loose. We had chosen not to comment. But it was only matter of time until my involvement with Invent Techs would be discovered. I had covered my tracks fairly well. I'd managed to dodge them all last time, but this ship would raise interest from all over the world, not just from the food and clothing industries. This time there would be interest from governments, and, I suspected, from the former gundam pilots, as well. Quatre had called. They would be all over me, now. I could be a threat.

It roused melancholy thoughts. There had never been a deep friendship between us, but we hadan easy camaraderie, and I had fought beside each of them more than once for a mutual goal. I had hoped the contact between all five of us would grow deeper after the war, but efforts made between the two wars had been, say, poorly rewarded. Quatre, to whom I had felt close at a time in the desert, had claimed more than once to be busy with his company but he had seemed truly sorry. Wufei often had excuses for business with Preventers and Trowa had returned to his circus. The responses I got from them to my emails had had mostly a polite and impersonal tone, if I got one at all. And Heero... Heero had disappeared again after the second war. Hell, I didn't even knew if Heero's mail addy even still existed. He was the one who never even replied at all. It hurt like hell. During the war, on the rare occasions we worked together – hell no, since he had raided Deathscythe – I had developed a curious interest in my comrade, and despite his cool demeanor it had been getting worse. He seemed so... focused, unfazed by human interactions. During the Mariemaia incident, I had tried to befriend him, but he still was so... cold. I had hoped that the year spent in peace would have loosened his demeanor, but... He was cool and to the fact, as I ought to know him from before, and avoided contact if not regarding the cause. I was sad about that, not only for him. I would have liked him as a friend.

So what. I buried my hurt in my work, and occasional encounters with people of both genders. I was good at that. Screw the abandoned feeling. Screw them. I dreamt, thought up, developed and built things, and I was astonished I could. Up to my Ezgadi. I named her after an Angel, used in conjuring rites for the successful completion if journeys. It seemed fitting. Invent Techs was successful and received tons of patents. Sometimes, I doubted myself. Okay, I always was good with mechanics. And during my time with Dr. G, he had packed with knowledge normal kids only got in college. Despite my next to nonexistent education while young, I had caught up with astonishing speed. I always suspected that the nanites they shot us with did something to enhance our brain capacity, not only the improved health and healingBut this now? I began to see a pattern. All the little things I created could be - and are now - used in my Ezgadi. As if all I invented in the last four years pointed to this ship. Howard was amused by my theory. By my driving dreams. I had tried to build my first things at the scrap yard, where I worked with Hilde. After a while, it proved impossible to satisfy the requirements, so we parted ways. Then, finally I found Howard as a partner and buried myself in work on the old sweeper satellite. We made good money. It was like I was obsessed. Yes, in hindsight, obsessed was the right word.

Hilde had been great, a last friend in my loneliness. Oh, I wasn't alone; far from it. The satellite buzzed with people – techs from the sweepers and a few hired experts. People were all over and around me. Once in a while, when I was at my lowest, it helped to talk the night away on the vid. That was what had been the worst on this trip, so far. The loneliness. I missed the people, buzzing and bustling around on the satellite. Now, I understand what Howard was so worried about. I'm not good all by myself for lengths of time. It forced me to think about people. People I loved and lost. Solo. The gang. Father Maxwell, Sister Helen. Quatre. Heero.

I must have fallen asleep in my bunk, because I dreamt. Dreamt of Deathscythe, fire, expositions and blood. Dreamt of a nice woman with chestnut colored hair and cobalt blue eyes, singing a lullaby. Dreamt of Quatre, Heero, the war, and relived the abandoned feeling, as he was gone without a word. I woke, gasping, to a wet pillow. Shit. Where did that come from? I sat up and rubbed my face, waited for the trembling to subside.

"Man, I haven't had a dream this bad in a long time,"I mumbled to myself, "Ezgadi, time and status."

"_Time is 0515 hours, Duo, all systems green."_

I yawned and got up, figuring I might as well make a trip to the bathroom and start the 'day'. I relieved myself and took two hours in the 'gym', stemmed weights, ran on the treadmill and beat the punching bag for all I was worth. I had stayed in good shape, well muscled. Growing up to 5 feet 9 had put me in a lean form with broad shoulders and slim hips. I took a shower and afterwards studied my reflection in the mirror as I braided my hair. Okay, I was a good-looking guy. I could have had a roll in the sack with any of the personnel at the Luna station if I had been interested, there certainly had been more than enough passes made at by both genders. But I had limited these contacts to strangers I picked up in bars on my occasional stays away from work on business trips. I snorted as I slid in a fresh pair grey cotton leggings and tank top, standard wear under spacesuits. That was all I wore here on the ship, all by myself. No point in getting dressed up all fancy. Two hours until my next contact with Howard.

I stepped in the gallery for a quick breakfast and just had bitten into a ration bar when I heard it: 'Welcome back, Nemamiah.'

I choked, and coughed to clear my airways.

"Ezgadi, you said something?" I inquired, clearing my throat again,.

"_There was no vocal output from me."_ Ezgadi said.

"I could swear I heard..." I stopped cold.

'Nemamiah, please slow down your ship to transmitted speed and coordinates and prepare for docking.'

"_Unidentified communication active. Receiving data from unknown source. Please confirm, Duo." _Ezgadi announced.

"Whoa," I raced to the cockpit and jumped in my seat. "What the hell...?" Inspecting the radar-, scan- and data-screens, I observed the incoming information. "Ezgadi, outboard screens on. Project indicated destination of received data on screen. Deepen scan, full range." I observed the screens and saw... nothing. Well, I saw Jupiter in its full glory, but otherwise? Nothing. "Fuck me sideways."

'I am not able to engage in human interactions.'

I felt dizzy. What the hell was... that? Someone, apparently not human, joked in deep space; no one was supposed to be here. I doubted I was suffering from space disease, or hallucinations – Ezgadi had confirmed unidentified contact.

I tensed, but my curiosity won. "Identify yourself."

'I am Bethor, Defender Battleship, Nemamiah.'

"Wait. You are speaking in my mind." I shook my head and felt silly.

'Correct.'

"How? Where are you from? What are your intentions? Who is the crew? What are you doing here?"

"We are communicating through your implanted com unit. My origin...'

I interrupted, feeling lightheaded "My... WHAT?"

'Your com unit, Nemamiah. My origin is Earth. I am to defend Earth, Colonies and its inhabitants. My crew is decreased except one, who was missing. My orders are to try to initiate contact and wait for the return of the missing crew member. Welcome home, Nemamiah.'

With this words an unimaginable really gigantic ship uncloaked on the outboard screen, at the intended destination of the received data.

I hyperventilated and my ears roared. Everything went blurry. I checked out.

"... _is unconscious. Oxygen level is increased. Code red. No injuries on pilot detectable. Scan indicates normal body functions. Code red. This is an emergency. My pilot is unconscious..." _

Additional to Ezgadi, Howard's voice thundered over the speakers. "...DUO! GOD DAMN IT! WAKE UP! I knew it. DUO! I never should have let..."

"Hi, Howie," I interrupted sheepishly and blinked at the screens. The enormous ship was still there. "Ezgadi, code green."

"God, Duo." He sounded anxious. "What happened to make Ezgadi initiate contact at emergency code red?"

"Um, I fell asleep?" I offered and checked our status. Like a good little AI, Ezgadi had stopped the ship.

"Don't mock me, kid," he boomed.

I grimaced, astonished how fast he could switch from anxious to irate.

"Um," I decided to tell the truth, "I found a ship?"

"A ship." He sounded incredulous.

"Yeah." I decided to be adventurous and confirmed the received coordinates to my ship. "A really big ship, Howie. Hidden behind Jupiter."

"Hidden. Behind Jupiter."

"Uhu. Howie, you a parrot?" I chuckled.

He seemed to come out of it. "Scrap? This far? From the war?"

"I... don't think so."

"You don't think so." There was a pause. "And you fainted why?"

"It's BIG, Howie. Really fuckin' big, like, ten times Peacemillion. And... I didn't faint. I blacked out." I inhaled deeply. "And... it spoke to me. In... in my head." I waited.

"Duo...," now he sounded cautious. "You really okay?"

"See, you don't believe me. Imagine this happening to you. You would faint, too. Everything's going fine, my little Ezgadi and I speed through space, and suddenly someone talks to me in my head. I mean, come on, man. In my fuckin' head! In deep space. And Ezgadi receives data. And it tells me it's a battleship. A battleship! Defender battleship Bati..., no Berti..., no..."

'Bethor,' a helpful whisper offers.

"...Thanks. Bethor. Defender battleship Bethor. To defend Earth and the colonies. You hear? Earth AND the colonies. And it says its origin is Earth. Fuckin' Earth! What is there to defend it from, y'know? And suddenly a ship uncloaks and it is really, really fuckin' big and it says it's my home..." I trailed off and bit my lip as my last words registered in my brain.

"... Duo?"

"I... I have to check this out, Howie."

There was a long pause, then a sigh. "If I asked you to come for backup first, you wouldn't listen, would you?"

"Howie, ..." I didn't finish the sentence. Twenty days retour, pick up someone and twenty days again to this location. No. I'm not that patient. Besides, if this turns out to be dangerous or worse, I'd rather have no one else involved.

"Yeah, I know. Please be careful, okay?" Howie huffed. "And, there is something else. They finally have caught up with us. There was a Preventer Agent here, yesterday. Guess who: Chang Wufei. The Government of the World Sphere wants to interview you. About the inexplicable use of unregistered amounts of the alloy gundanium. And Ezgadi in general."

I barked a laugh while I confirmed the new coordinates to my ship. "Oh, they to, do they? Well, I'm afraid they'll have to wait; I'm on vacation just now. Time to hand out our presentation." I blew my bangs out of my face. We were prepared for the case of early discovery and had a disk ready. Normally, I would have liked to finish this test run I was on first, but... "Throw her out, then. Marketing phase one. So, they sent Wufei? Figures. Guess my cover is blown now, huh?

"It was all over the news. The stock is in uproar." Howard replied in a dry tone. "And Quatre has called, again. Think they want to test the waters, see if you're a bad boy or a good boy. You have to talk to them, Duo."

"Yeah..." I trailed off, then shook the depressed feeling while staring at the outboard screens. "You know, it bugs me that they only remember I exist if they think I'm a danger to their precious peace. They should know better. And, you know, this Bethor is really huge." I wiped my sweaty palms on my legs. "Whew, Howie, I didn't know we could build such ships. I'm going in. Sending visual. Try to find something about the manufacturer. Bye." I keyed the command to switch the transmission from audio to video and sent the recorded data about this ship.

After Ezgadi confirmed that the transmission was complete, I decided to use the last hour before docking on this strange ship to make that call to Quatre. I hoped I would not lose the signal when I went behind Jupiter, but ...

'I can route your transmission through my satellites, Nemamiah. If you wait until you are on board, you will have visual as well as audio at your disposal.'

I started. "Shit. Are you listening to my thoughts as well?" I had all forgotten about this com unit.

'I can't avoid listening; you have not closed the channel.'

"Yeah, right. If you would tell me how, I'd do that."

'I can not risk losing contact before you are on board, Nemamiah."

"Yeah, right." I snorted. Then I decided to test the offer. If this someone or something that called itself Bethor would listen anyway, what damage would be done? I thought of opening a channel, frequency, and suddenly there was a female voice in my head.

"Winner Enterprises, how can I help you?"

"Duo Maxwell, Invent Techs for Quatre Winner." I replied businesslike.

"Oh, Mr. Maxwell. Um. Yes, one moment please."

I rolled my eyes. This was rich. Somehow I felt silly, talking to myself, or to a voice in my head. But the connection was surprisingly good.

"Duo?"

"Hi, Quatre. You rang?"

"Hello, Duo. I have no visual. How are you?"

"Quat, you have no visual because I'm halfway through the solar system. I'm calling from Jupiter. Nice here. And I'm fine. A little lonely, but I'm used to it." I couldn't help a little sarcasm. "How can I satisfy your curiosity?"

"Jupiter?" He gasped.

"Hmm, I'm testing my ship. You've heard about it, haven't you? You'll get a presentation disc in a few, when we start marketing. If you're interested, call the sales department. Don't call me."

There was a pause. "I'm sorry."

"What for? For trying to get a good price by knowing the management? It's not that we were friends in the first place, right? Acquaintances, maybe.You all made it clear that you were not interested. Or are you sorry that you had no trust in me when I came to you for help? Or that you lost a few good business opportunities? So, what are you sorry for?" I just couldn't help it.

Quatre made a shudering sound. "For not being a friend. For being selfish. For being ignorant. For missing chances to know you, to know the others. Go on, Name one. I'm sorry." He sounded sincere.

I swallowed hard. "What brought this on, Quat? Why this sudden change of heart?" Sue me, but I was suspicious of his motivation.

"I'm with Trowa, Duo."

I couldn't help the slight pang of jealousy, "Yeah? Great. Say hi for me."

"Duo, we... we're all sorry. We... we had a talk."

"A talk," I was at a loss.

"Yes, we... we, I mean, Trowa and I talked with Wufei."

"With Wufei." Somehow, it seemed surreal.

"We are sorry. You tried, and we were ignorant. We think it would be a good idea if we... and Wufei agrees... I mean, we want to be closer again, maybe even friends; we all do. If you... if you can forgive us, that is."

"I see." I bit my lip. _That was what I had wanted, wasn't it? But am I able to forgive and forget? _"And this call, your earlier calls had nothing to do with the discovery of my ship?" Am I to believe this? "With Wufei at my factory just now, investigating?"

"No," he almost cried out, "...please, I swear. That was totally by chance. Wufei had asked for the assignment. To be able to talk, personally. To make amends."

"But we didn't talk, did we?" I now gnawed at my lip. "See, I'll think about it, okay?" I had my own life now, and they were no longer a part of it. Would I want them tobe, honestly?

"There is more." Quatre sounded now sad and small. "I found Heero. He was on Earth. He's... he's dying, Duo."

I felt as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over my head. "What?"

"He,..." Quatre cleared his throat, "he was infected with a virus. HIV IIb. The mutation of the old aids virus. It's no longer latent. He must have been infected in 196. Before Mariemaia. He... there is no cure, Duo."

'Yes, there is. I have a cure,' Bethor whispered.

I shivered. "Shut the fuck up!"

Quatre drew in a sharp breath.

"Sorry, Quat. I didn't mean you," I clutched my braid, "how... how long?" I was stunned. One of the indestructible Gundam-boys dying? And Heero? In my imagination, he was the one who lived forever.

"Two or three months. He's here now, too."

I couldn't help the remark, "it takes one comrade dying for you to remember the rest of them?" Instantly I regretted the slip. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." I stared at the controls in front of me.

"It's okay, Duo. I understand."

"_Three minutes until touchdown. Engage breaking thrusters. Three, two, one, zero." _

I drew a deep breath. "Sorry, Quat. Gotta go."

"Who's with you?" He sounded generously curious. "Didn't you say you were in deep space? Docking?"

I choked backa nervous laugh. "That's Ezgadi, my ship. She's an AI. Look at the disk. And for the rest, I honestly can't say itwithout sounding insane. I'll be in touch." I didn't know how to cut the link, so I thought it.

'Link cut,' Bethor confirmed. 'Docking procedure engaged. Welcome on board, Nemamiah.'

I observed the docking via the outboard screens, noticed the lack of docking doors, winced as my ship cut through some sparkling energy field into the hangar bay and gaped, as I saw two bigger shuttles and approx. fifty mobile suits, unlike Leos, but clearly equipped with weapons sliding by. "Holy shit," I gasped, and as my ship came to a halt, "Ezgadi, report environment conditions."

"_Environment conditions in hangar meeting human requirements." _

I fumbled with my harness and scrambled off my ship out into the hangar. I stood, slowly making a circle, and took it all in. "You are a carrier, Bethor."

'Not only that. I am housing one hundred ninety six mobile suits and eight shuttles in four hangars. I have twenty beam canons and ten laser canons at my own disposal, under command of the captain. I am a Defender Battleship.'

"What happened to the crew?" I had noticed that the suits seemed new, no signs of past battles.

'I will explain. Please come to the bridge. Press your hand to the pad beside the door and follow the lights.'

--------------------------

I must be crazy. Wandering around on an unknown ship, all by myself.

I had touched the pad and the door slid open with a slight hiss. I crouched, ready for any sort of attack, but as there was no sign of life, I cautiously followed the lit trail, peeked in the dark corridors left and right; farther down, a door slid open, and I was on... the bridge. I took in the nine control panels, some dark, some somewhat lit, dark screens and the seats in front of them, and one seat in the back on a slight platform with controls in the armrests. All the controls were marked in Standard English.

'Please sit down in the captain's seat. I will start instruction'

"Okay. But no funny business here." I sat down and waited.

'I am Bethor, Defender Battleship. One out of seven. My creators named me after a biblical being, its meaning a powerful angel, one of the seven angelic beings ruling the 196 divisions of heaven. My crew consisted of two hundred six warriors, one hundred twenty techs and thirty scientists. I launched from Earth Colony-cluster L2-X4231 on October 12 in A.C. 257. At this time, three fourths of the population on Earth and the Colonies were slaughtered. We were at war with the Xetoins – an alien race - who reached Earth in April A.C. 202, after a scout troop of five in December A.C. 201 successful spied out the human race. We were the last resort. Our mission was to get back in time to A.C. 201 to defeat the first scout troop and beat off the first wave Xetoins by building a newly developed weapon for the next, overwhelming wave. Our mission failed. The system used was faulty. We arrived in A.C. 179. The effects of the time lap caused lethal genetically damage in the crew and destroyed my drive system. The main amount of techs decreased during that malfunction. They last members of my crew died five years later.'

While all my senses should scream at me for this story, I found myself unusually calm. "You state you launched at A.C.257. We have A.C.201. You say you are from... from the future?"

'That is correct. Although, I see myself in the past.'

"Whatever." I pondered the story. "What proof do you have that you aren't one of these..." I gestured with a hand, "these... spies, send by the aliens as bait?"

'You are.' Bethor replied.

----------------

tbc


	3. Ambriel

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: ?  
Pairing: 1x2, 43, eventually  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them, used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.  
  
Notes: Several years after the wars, the pilots have grown apart. When they meet again under unusual circumstances and an impending new war, will they be able to fight again, together?  
  
As before, many thanks for Ellimaru for most helpful, throughout and work intensive betaing.

----------------------------

**Future of the Past - ****# 3 Ambriel**

inspires clear communication so that we might better speak our own truth, while  
gently guiding human beings toward a time when truth and clarity will be the  
universal norm. Ambriel is also considered to be an angel of general protection.

-----------------------------------

"Me?" I laughed hard. A screen came to life and displayed a young male in his early twenties. The laugh died in my throat. What was so fascinating, sofrightening about this picture was, the man was an albino. Pure white hair, pale skin and... red eyes. He was very handsome. And - he seemed somehow familiar. I read the data displayed beside the picture.

Name: Ambriel  
Function: Warrior, Captain  
Gender: male,  
Born: February 1, A.C.235  
Status: deceased May 5, A.C. 185

A second screen lit up and I gasped as I saw the displayed female. Wavy chestnut colored long hair, cobalt blue colored eyes, pouting lips... I froze. I knew this woman... from my dreams.

Name: Hope  
Function: Warrior, pilot  
Gender: female  
Born: November 21, A.C.236  
Status: deceased March 26, A.C. 185

A third screen lit up and showed a small child with short chestnut colored hair and cobalt blue eyes. A wave of nausea hit me. I knew this kid, too. I've seen him often. Older now, but... I've seen him. In a mirror.

Name: Nemamiah, offspring of Ambriel and Hope,  
Function: unknown  
Gender: male  
Born: April 20, A.C.180  
Status: unknown

"Jesus Fucking Christ," I breathed. It took a while for me to process this information. "You...," I licked my suddenly dry lips, "... could have made this up. Somehow."

'You wear the ship's own organic com unit, implanted below your left ear. It enables us to communicate. There are genetic samples of all crewmembers stored in medical. Take yours and analyze it, on your ship.'

"Ezgadi is not equipped for this kind of analysis." I felt somewhat numb. Maybe it's shock from all this.

'Feel free to analyze it in medical.'

"You could fake the results."

'View the logs.'

I shook my head. "You could fake them as well."

A thought popped in my head. "You have contacted me. Why?"

'Orders were: reactivate ten years after deactivation. Locate and contact missing crew member Nemamiah. Enable crew member Nemamiah to return by projecting technical schemes during resting phase. Enable original mission. Prevent Invasion of Xetoins. Transfer command chain. Self destruct on failure.'

It suddenly made sense. My dreams. The obsession in creating... my ship. "How did you know it would work? I mean..., no." Rubbing my face, I exhaled slowly. "You spied on me. Right?"

'I observed your progress.'

"I feel like my head's been raped." I murmured. "This is rich. God damned fucking rich. What now?"

'I need to evaluate your abilities. You proved your technical and mechanical knowledge. You are able to pilot a shuttle. We need to merge. You need knowledge about the enemy and my past to prevent failure. I need knowledge about your abilities to estimate possibility of continuing the mission.'

"Merge. What What does 'merge' mean?" I hope you won't crawl in my head. I've had enough as it is. My meeting with ZERO was enough for a lifetime, thank you very much."

'ZERO. That was a dangerous and primitive antiquated unit. Merging means we communicate on a higher level. Communication only. This way, the information is transferred considerable faster. You will feel like you're dreaming and the knowledge is assessable instantly.'

"And I trust you why?" I snorted. I got no answer; instead, the control panel in my left armrest slid aside and revealed a small unit similar a small one-ear headset. I sighed and picked it up, and after a short inspection attached it to my left ear. "This better be good," I muttered, before my world went blank.

I blinked wildly, as I came to again and looked around. Everything was perfectly clear. I knew the stations and its functions. I knew that the technology used on this ship is partly alien, plundered from captured enemies. I knew this ship, every inch of it. I knew the AI told the truth, was incapable of lying.

I knew everything to know about this endless war, yet to happen in my reality. I knew that these Xetoins were a kind of telepathic parasite, projecting and in return feeding off of the terrible fear of their prey, the human race. They had placed amplifiers all over the Earth sphere to harvest human emotions. Like cattle, only big human farms, the Earth and colonies. I know that there is no real resistance possible, because no one can really fight when frozen in fear, terrified to the point of insanity. Remaining living humankind has been mostly reduced to insane, helpless prey, dying. I knew that afew brave humans resisted, despite the horror. They defied, fought them.

I knew that in this ship's past, the pilot of the Gundam Deathscythe lost his life in an early stage of Operation Meteor, that only the pilots of Gundams Sandrock and Epyon escaped death. I knew that Treize won this war. I knew that the remaining and existing weapons of this past could not prevent the invasion of the Xetoins. They just were not effective enough against them.

I knew that scientists had developed dampeners for their suits as defense, but they suppressed emotions completely, resulting in fighting without remorse, and mostly the warriors ended up in kamikaze situations. I knew that, finally, in a dampened area on a hidden satellite, scientists developed an effective weapon against the Xetoins; but resources were exhausted, so there were no means to constructing it. I knew that by accident, a time folding effect was discovered by these researches; that, as a last resort, it was decided that they would send the last battleship back in time to try to prevent the invasion.

I knew that this experiment failed, as the time lap was further in the past than predicted, that this time lap caused a severe malfunction in the ship's drive, where most of the technicians died. I knew that the time lap caused a genetic change in the surviving people, a fast-growing, untreatable cancer which had killed the crew within five years. I knew that the scientists, while searching for a cure, developed a serum which caused gentic enhancement, and I knew that if it had been administered before the time lapse, it would have worked.

I knew that this enhancement would have enabled the warriors to build up a mental block in defense against the terrible emotional projections of the Xetoins, and to fight them successfully, in addition with this new weapon. I knew that this enhancement has side effects, as in very fast reproducing, renewing cells without exhaustion of the genetic code, resulting in unbelievably fast healing, slowing of aging process almost completely; immunity to illness. I knew the Xetoins would arrive in short over four months.

I knew that a child was fathered and born on this ship, and I knew that I am this child. I knew that this child, the last healthy member of the crew, was sent to Earth in hope of survival and return, to learn and spread knowledge, enabling humankind to survive.

But I also knew that in my past, the victory of the Gundams resulted in destroying most known weapons, as for the pacifistic governments, including the Gundams. As it stands, now Earth is worse off now than it was in the past of this ship.

I found myself in the captain's chair with my legs drawn up to my chest and tears streaming down my face. Choking on my breath, panting. I ripped the headset from my ear and hurled it across the room. I had found my parents. I was born to parents not yet born themselves. A hysterical laugh bubbled up my throat. I had hoped it was over. Instead, it hadn't yet begun. Fifty-some years of war against aliens. "My God." My laugher turned to hysterical sobs. 

'Nemamiah. Your heart rate has sped up to 120. You are shivering and perspiring. You are losing body fluids. You need to calm down.'

"Duo," I whispered sniffing, "my name is Duo."

'Duo Maxwell. Pilot 02 of Gundams Deathscythe and Deathscythe Hell. Codename Shinigami. You have command.'

"Yeah. That's me." I hiccupped and added sarcastically, "you forgot: grew up on my own an orphan on the streets of L2, a beggar and thief for six years." God. Life had turned upside down in less than, what, three hours? I felt drained. Totally exhausted. I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes. This was one fucking hell. I needed to sleep, but doubted I could. Four months to go.

"Why aren't these mobile suits made from Gundanium?" I inquired.

'The formula of the alloy got lost after Operation Meteor,' Bethor said.

"Oh." I nodded absently. "But you could have replicated it... right, the remaining Gundam scrap was sent to the sun." I recalled the information provided by the ship. I needed a distraction.

"So, Bethor, What's your damage in detail?" I asked while tugging on my braid.

'My drives are irreparably damaged.'

I snorted. "Bullshit. Nothing is irreparable if the parts are available." I cocked my head. "You said I have command."

'Yes.'

"Oh. Okay. Thanks." I scrubbed my hands over my face and took a deep breath. "Can you establish a vid com to Earth? What is your energy level? Show me the damage on screen."

'Vid com possible. Energy level is one hundred percent by self-renewing energy crystals at my disposal. Data on screen.'

I swore softly as I observed the data. "I need help. No way I can fix this by myself. Bethor, you have shuttles on board. How fast are they? Capacity? Ezgadi can only carry eight... no, scratch that, six," I sheepishly thought of my 'gym'.

'Calculated time from here to Earth five days, four hours and twenty-six minutes at momentary planet constellation. Capacity ofeach of my shuttles is thirty people.'

"Damn, Bethor. Why haven't you brought your crew to Earth?"

'They attempted repair unsuccessfully; one hundred two technicians were decreased. Discover of incurable illness resulted in decision to stay.'

"Where are they?" I asked absently as I calculated needed work force for the repairs.

'The bodies were shot into space. The last twenty three are in stasis chambers.'

"Holy shit." I stopped cold and took a deep breath. "They are still on board?"

'Yes.'

I groaned. "Great. I'm on a drifting morgue. Names and dates on screen." I scanned the slowly scrolling data and stared at the last name. "My... father was the... last one?"

'The captain left as the last one,' Bethor confirmed.

"How..." I swallowed hard and my fingers clenched the console so hard my knuckles went white. "How did... he get in the stasis?"

'By himself. He instructed the life support to cease while in stasis.'

"God." I sank slowly to my knees and leaned my head against the cool console. "Where?" I croaked out. But I knew before Bethor answered where the stasis chamber room was.

'Section eight, opposite medical. Do you wish to go there?'

"NO! ...no." I shook my head against the console fiercely; my braid swished back and forth against my back. "Not... yet. Later. I'll... go later." There was so much pain in me. Sorrow. Somehow, it felt like the day I had thought Heero had died in his self-destruction stunt.

The AI, Bethor, was silent.

I let my head fall backwards and stared up at the ceiling of the bridge. Grief had built up in the pit of my stomach and I thought I would choke on it if it didn't get out. I screamed. All the pain and sorrow and grief came out in that one, animalistic howl. War again. Fight again. Discover your past, your parents. I wished desperately for someone to hold me. Shield me. Solo. Sister Helen. Howard. Quatre. Heero. Someone.

I came awake in my cabin on Ezgadi. I had slept deep and dreamless, despite the devastating news, and now pondered all the unbelievable knowledge I had accessed. I had tucked my tail between my legs and fled to my ship. Somehow, here I didn't feel as though I'd been left alone on a drifting morgue. Technically that was crap, as Ezgadi was still in the hangar, but... you know. I had sat in one of the mobile suits. They loosely resembled Leos, impressively improved, but they were a far call from my Gundam. I needed help. I needed my technicians. I needed Howard. I needed pilots. I needed the Gundam pilots. That brought Heero to my mind again. Heero was dying, Quatre said. Bethor said he had a cure.

Somehow, I was horrified byhow fast I could shake it, get over this crap. How fast I fell back to my wartime mindset. Buried the bad things, which couldn't be changed anyway, and looked forward. I needed Quatre. As strategist he was the best. He had built Wing Zero. Maybe, with the help of the other pilots and Howard and the crew, we could rebuild and improve all of the Gundams with this technology. Yes. First, we needed people here. The rest would sort out itself. We would do our best, as before, and maybe we could prevent this invasion. We had to inform the governments. Relena. I groaned.

We need to train. I could program holographic simulations, they were much better than the usual simulations available to day. I blinked. I knew there were four holo decks on board, and I knew how to program them. I began to feel giddy. I rolled out of my bunk and stomped in the gallery, where I wolfed down a ration bar. No nerve for a fancy breakfast. I dressed for the first time since I started to my deep space adventure in jeans and a t-shirt, and wandered out of my ship in the hangar.

"Good morning, Bethor," I called out while I stretched.

'Good morning, Duo,' came the prompt answer.

I was glad it didn't address me with that awful name it used yesterday. While I walked to the bridge, I switched my com unit off, just because I could, and grinning, held up a mental middlefinger to the AI. "You have to switch to speaker, no more prodding around in my head."

"I noticed," came the reply.

I settled down in the captain's chair and looked around. Soon, I hoped, this place would be filled with people again. "Bethor, establish vid com with Winner Enterprises, same frequency as yesterday."

I waited, while pondering how to tell Quatre. Oh, hell, the truth was never wrong.

"Winner Enterprises, Operator. How can I help?"

"Duo Maxwell for Quatre Winner please." I smiled sweetly.

"I'm sorry, you have called outside office hours, sir." He looked aside, probably at a clock, "Mr. Winner is not in before nine in the morning, in five hours. Please try later."

I switched my smile to a glare. "This is an emergency. I need a connection, now. Tell Mr. Winner this is a code alpha zero zero nine zero two. Immediately." That was our old war time 'holy shit' code. I hoped he remembered.

"Yes, sir," he replied hastily and looked spooked, "one moment, sir."

It was interesting how people assumed you were important if you began to talk codes. The screen switched to the Winner logo and I leaned back and waited. Not long.

"Duo?" Quatre squeaked as the connection was there again. "You okay?"

"Hi, Quat," I grinned at him. "Recording this?"

"Of course. What is...," he stopped and looked hard at me, his expression switched to pissed. "This is no emergency, is it? Do you know what time it is? I'm...," he stopped again. "We have vid. You said..., how...," he looked closer. "Where...," he took a breath. "Explain." He leaned back, clad in a robe, hair tousled and a stern expression on his face.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, Quat, but you look priceless." I chuckled some more. "Okay, this is no immediate emergency, you are right. But it is an alpha zero zero nine from me nonetheless."

He narrowed his eyes. "Explain," he repeated.

"First," I took a deep breath, "despite what it sounds like, I'm not insane. Trust me. Listen carefully. We have a situation." I leaned forward and stared at the vid cam. I knew it seemed as if I stared directly at him. "Remember Meteor? This is ten times worse. Bring your things in order. Hand over your company to your next in command. Gather the others. All three of them. Heero too. Catch a doctor and a few nurses." Asan afterthought I added, "I also need a gene test device. Gather Maganacs, the best pilots there are, people who are willing to lose their lives. Up to sixty persons, max. Tell them all. I need you here. You have five days and six hours until take off."

He looked shocked. "Duo, you can't expect me to beli..., I think we should talk abou..."

I didn't let him finish. "No. We will talk when you all are here. You will understand."

His eyes narrowed and he slowly shook his head and smiled sweetly. "How, ...uhm, you bring your ship back and we, uhm, ...talk here?"

Okay. I was prepared for this. He thought I had snapped, "Quatre. Do you think the cockpit of my little shuttle looks like this?" I leaned back and made a wide gesture with my arm. At the same time, I switched my com unit on and gave Bethor the mental command to show him a 360 view of the bridge. "This, Quat, is just the bridge. Command center. Of a ship. Parked on the backside of Jupiter. "

He gasped. "God, Duo..., you haven't built..."

"Oh, Quatre," I sighed, "please. Think. When and where would I have had the opportunity? This is Bethor. Look it up. B-E-T-H-O-R. The name is fitting. I found it yesterday. And it's the last Chance for humankind." I reconsidered, "first Chance, or... only Chance. Whatever." I had to convince him.

"Duo," he sounded overly soothing. "Perhaps you... exaggerate a bit? Come back, and then we..."

I interrupted again. "Do you believe in alien life forms, Quat?"

"In... what?"

"Bethor, show a Xetoin." I said aloud. I thought hard. "Quat, listen. This ship, Bethor here, has battled against these. His data, which I, in my insatiable curiosity, accessed, proves they are on their way to Earth, within four months. An invasion. And no, don't pull a Relena on me and say we should try to talk to them, first. For them, humans are no more than cattle. It's a fact. I've seen the proof. We have to make precautions. Earth and the Colonies have next to no defenses, have they? We saw to that."

He looked unsure. "But...," he trailed off, obviously thinking.

I sighed again. "Quat. Please. What known technology ensures a trip from Jupiter to Earth in five and a half days? Even my new prototype needed twenty. Runs great, by the way. You should consider buying one. And if you find I'm gone crazy, you can haul my ass back and look at this as a vacation of sorts. Come and bring the others."

"Okay," he said slowly. "But... Heero." He bit his lip.

"Bring him. Heero will be fine." I mustered as much confidence as I could, "And Quatre? Dig up the plans of our Gundams. We may need them. Bring as much info as possible. And don't you get caught. If someone thinks the wrong thing, you could get in trouble." I winked. "Make copies of this recording for each government and one for Une. But don't send them before you are gone. I don't need psychiatrists here; I need warriors..." I shook my head slightly at the use of the word, "uh, pilots to save the Earth and Colonies. I will send you rendezvous data on our old channel. See you."

I thought 'cut link' and the vid was dark. Leaning back in the seat, I blew the bangs out of my face and sighed. The next hour I worked hard, plotting out the best way for a rendezvous with two unknown shuttles at L4, unsuspected by the authorities. I was good at that. Stealth was one of my specialties. I sent the data to Quatre. "Start two shuttles, Bethor. Destination L4 as instructed. And while you are at it, start two more. To these coordinates." I typed further data in my console, the coordinates of the satellite and the frequency at home. "Establish a vid com to the Earth com satellite, this connection."

I talked to Howard and in essence told him as much asI had toldQuatre, only this conversation had somewhat less the threat of a straight jacket. We decided to leave the company in the tried andtruehands of Karl, as Howie, to my great relief, insisted on coming, too. We decided also to slow down the marketing of the ship, postpone the delivery time to uncertain and announce a production time of at least one year, so people wouldn't look too hard for it. We always had the option to make a trip to Earth for a while, as the speed of Bethor's shuttles out classed everything else. We decided he would bring the best of the techs and a few sweepers to repair Bethor's drives. I was confident we could bring it up to speed again.

Look out, Xetoins; Shinigami is coming.

tbc


	4. Phanuel

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: ?  
Pairing: 1x2, 43, eventually  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them, used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.  
  
Notes: Several years after the wars, the pilots have grown apart. When they meet again under unusual circumstances and an impending new war, will they be able to fight again, together?  
  
As before, many thanks for Ellimaru and also Sakusha for most helpful, throughout and work intensive betaing and take pity of my weird wording.

**Future of the Past - ****# 4 Phanuel**

**(Raguel)(Hope)** Archangel of penance, prince of the presence, angel of hope,  
and holds the devil in his power. Hope is a feeling of trust & a desire for good,  
accompanied by the assumption that your desire is attainable.

---------------------------

I sat in the cantina eating a sandwich. I was waiting for the arrival of the shuttles. They were due any time now. I was nervous, okay. I had hoped that Howard would be here before they had arrived. But Howard would be delayed two days time, gathering the right personnel. I loved my former comrades like brothers, but I was apprehensive. It's been a long time since we've been together. Time changes things, people. Howard and the gang were closer now.

I wandered about the ship and was astonished at how familiar it was to me. I never once got lost. I investigated every room but two. I was unwilling to enter the captains' private quarters and the stasis chamber room, opposite medical. I avoided them for a whole week, before I could find myself daring enough to enter the room that held the last of the crew members.

Reluctantly, I made my way into the stasis room, drifting along the line of unknown dead. At last, I found myself staring at two of the glass-covered stases chambers... at my parents. I learned that my mother was one of the last to die. Her body next to my fathers. He had been tall; a strong, masculine appearance. And handsome, despite the pale phenomenon. She had been beautiful. The color of hair was exactly like mine and, although her eyes were closed, I knew from the logs she had the same cobalt blue eyes as mine. I knelt in front of the chambers and bawled like a baby for hours. All my life I had wondered why I had been alone in the world, and now I knew. I had found and lost them at the same time.

After the first few times, it began to get easier to enter this room. The grief was somewhat easier, no longer this gut clawing pain, but a deep-rooted, but bearable sadness. I came here often to mourn. I wish I could remember the first five years of my life here on this ship. I accessed the private logs of my parents. There are a few vid recordings with the three of us. I copied them down on a disk and put them with my personal belongings.

I also began to question this whole time-lapse concept. I debated with Bethor what would happen if we could prevent the invasion of the aliens, so that there would have been no need for the ship and its crew to come back in time. Bethor had a wide range of theories, but no real answers to that.

The worst theory was that the ship just would vanish, as if it never had been there. That raised the question of my existence. I had been born in this time, but my parents were not. Would I also cease to exist? What would happen to all the people from this present, staying on this ship if it ceased to exist? I pondered it over in my head repeatedly. In the end, I decided it wouldn't matter. We all had to be prepared to lose our lives in battle. I was. I hoped the others were as well.

I also discussed with Bethor the use of the enhancement serum. The AI was determined that only with the enhancement, would we be able to withstand the mental attacks of the Xetoins. I questioned it, as all five of us were already improved. We had been given nanites, which were now circulating in our bloodstream. Bethor informed me that, as a matter of fact, I had been given this serum as a child, and if there would be complications, they would have shown after Dr. G had 'pepped' me up.

I wondered why it had no effect on me. During the war I had been injured often enough. My healing processes had not been advanced beyond that of the others. Bethor made it clear that the genetic effects, except for the viral immunity, were dormant until adulthood. That would explain why I hadn't been ill so far, why I survived the plague on L2. Even while I had been exposed to the sickness, had held Solo in my arms as he died.

Pondering all that over, I sat there and ate my sandwich. I swallowed the last bit and took a sip from the soda as Bethor announced the immediate arrival of the first two shuttles at hangar two.

I wandered down to the hanger and waited, leaning against the wall, while playing nervously with the tuft of my braid. The first shuttle touched down and taxied in its parking position, then the next.

A hatch slid open and Wufei stepped out. He had grown up. Not as tall as I was, but he also was an adult now and a well built one, too. His hair still was pulled back in a short ponytail as he turned back to help someone out. Heero. He also had grown up. They almost were the same height. But he looked... frail, pale and sunken in. Slowly, they stepped down the stairway into the hangar. While Wufei studied his new surroundings, Heero leaned on him heavily, and concentrated on just walking.

I was shocked, but determined to hide it. The grip on my braid tightened and I tugged, hard. My God. Of course, I knew about his illness, but to see him this way... I almost missed Trowa and Quatre leaving the shuttle, too. Only the excited shout of my name from Quatre tore my eyes from Heero. I straightened, pushed away from the wall and strode towards them. We nodded brief greetings and there was a short, awkward pause as we all stood in the middle of the hangar facing each other. That was, until I cleared my throat and donned my best smile, "Well, welcome to my humble home." I almost missed the amused raise of one of Trowa's eyebrows and huffed. "Now, you will see," mumbling, I turned around and observed the hangar, now humming with life. Mananacs' were all over the place. "You want the grand tour, or would you like to settle in first?" I inquired.

"Actually," a familiar voice came from behind, "I'd like to see the medical equipment first. Heero here needs attention."

I whirled around. "Sally!" I excitedly called out. "What a nice surprise." Then a thought came to me and I narrowed my eyes as I took in her appearance. She was wearing a uniform. "You're working with the Preventers. How come..." I turned back. "Quatre..."

"It was my idea." Wufei interrupted. "Actually, as Quatre showed the disk to me, I was a little... worried. I confess, you seemed slightly..."

"...insane?" I offered.

He nodded. "To be honest with you, I'm still not fully convinced that you're not, Maxwell. You always were a little... eccentric. I need to confirm you haven't broken several laws."

I tilted my head, waved with my hand, "Go on."

He declared, "It was my duty to show the disc to Une. We decided we would be somewhat covert..."

I snorted at that, but he ignored me and went on, "... Investigate. We're," he motioned to Sally, "partners in this investigation. This is an official covert mission, on the Preventers' behalf."

"Okay," I nodded, "I can live with that if you can."

He looked flabbergasted at my lack of protest.

"It's not that I'm hiding something. You'll see." I looked over the rest of the now gathered people and announced loudly: "Bethor will show you to your quarters. There are enough rooms for singles. Of course, you can bunk together if you want to. Please follow the signs to sector three."

"Understood, captain." The AI replied and the hangar doors slid open.

This got another raised eyebrow from Trowa, and Quatre looked openly surprised. I shrugged and replied, "I forgot to mention that. Bethor is an AI, the soul of this ship so to say. It's much more advanced than the one on my ship. So, we six will bunk at section two, in the officers' quarters. And I'm the captain, it seems."

I eyed Heero and decided to address the problem head-on. "You able to walk to medical?"

It earned me an icy glare and a grunt.

I had to smirk. "Some things never change. Guess that means yes. Medical it is, then." I lead the way and we trooped through the corridors to our destination. I heard Sally's sharp intake at the futuristic looking medical bay as the doors slid open. "This, my dear, is your domain for making it all better, if it goes nasty. And for healing Heero."

"Duo...," she began, "there isn't..."

I didn't let her finish. "I know. Incurable in A.C.201. But curable in A.C 257. And that's where we are standing right now. Correct, Bethor?"

The AI's voice responded, "Literally incorrect, captain. Technically correct."

"Told you," I grinned at Sally's puzzled expression and turned to Heero, seeing a slightly confused expression on his face and a slim glint of hope shining in his eyes. I felt warmth spreading through my gut at the sight and at the same time regret. Was I really saving his life, only to put it at risk again sometime later? Yes. Yes, I was. Because there still was a chance he might survive a battle. We all might survive. But only if we could fight first. "Come on, Heero, lie down," I gestured to one of the sickbeds. "Let's get you up and about again."

"But... I don't know how to use all this," Sally made a wide spread gesture at the medical stations.

"Oh, you will," I waved to the others to step nearer as I walked to one of the control consoles. Picking up one of the special hypodermics I had prepared earlier I held it up, while Wufei helped Heero lie down on the nearest bed. "This," I announced, "holds an organic com unit. It enables communication with everyone wearing one, also with the ship's AI. It is similar to the wireless com units you wear at Preventers, only permanent." I grinned. "You can't lose it or misplace it and it can't be taken away from you if you fall in enemy hands. So, who's first?" I looked around.

"Duo, you can't expect us to...," Quatre started, "without explanation...," he huffed, unsure. "We need to know..."

"Quat, have I ever lied to you?" I interrupted him. It seemed like this was becoming a habit. "Look. This," I gestured with the hypodermic in my hand, "enables you to access the databases. It's way faster than asking me everything. You can go through the databases manually, if you want too. But it could take weeks, maybe months. We don't have that kind of time. With the com you will know your way around the ship. You will know about the Xetoins. You will know everything there is to know. You," I pointed to Sally "will know how to use all this here, how to treat Heero. You," I pointed to the rest of them, "you will know that I don't lie nor am I insane, either. And..."

"Me first," Heero interrupted my rant.

I stopped short and then nodded, perfectly understanding. Made sense. He thought he would die anyway, and it made no difference to him if what I did to him now would do harm. I was a little sad about this reason. "Okay. Thanks for trusting me." I approached him and injected the tiny unit under his left ear. "Bethor, acknowledge, activate and calibrate new implanted com unit. Full access. Standard greeting."

Heero's eyes went wide; the only sign that he, too, could now hear Bethor in his head. "Understood." He said out loud.

I snorted, smirking. "Okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied and never taking his eyes from me, confirmed for the others, "It's a com unit. The ship was communicating with me."

"Said so." I rolled my eyes and hold up an other hypodermic. "Next?"

After I repeated the procedure with the remaining four, I fished two headsets out of the console and handed one to Sally, who ogled it suspicious and one to Heero. "This is education 101 in history... no, future and medical. When you are finished, you will know everything and then we will talk, if you wish. Put it on your left ear, so that the contact's pressing against your com. Sally, you might want to sit down. It's a little overwhelming."

I instructed Bethor to merge with them and show them the details of the ship, its technology, the facts of its history and the war with the Xetoins. I also instructed Bethor to educate Sally on all the new medical knowledge she would need.

When I was done with Heero and Sally, I waved for the others to follow me.

"Where are we going?" Wufei inquired.

"I'll take you to the bridge. There are more of these units to merge with the ship..."

I was interrupted with Quatre's gasp. "Merge?"

"Don't worry, Quat. It's nothing like Zero. It's communication only. I Promise," I said, flashing him a reassuring smile.

Trowa asked, "How come this ship's AI accepted you, let you in?"

I stopped cold. "It's... complicated."

He heaved one eyebrow.

"Well... I'll tell you, okay? But I'd rather Heero..." I paused, thinking, "and Sally is there as well, if I do. Can we please wait for when he is better? Sally will start his treatment as soon as she comes out of merging, I'm sure." I walked in front of them, towards the bridge. "Look, it all makes more sense if you have all the knowledge, anyway. And you have to look after your people and direct them through the ship. You can do that after merging. Right now, I think they're sitting in their quarters, quite forlorn."

"Of course," Quatre cried out, "the Maganacs. I almost forgot about them!"

I chuckled as I mentally pinged him and thought, 'you're a bad daddy', then laughed aloud as he jumped and looked ashamed and indignant at the same time. "I am nothing like a daddy to them," he said aloud. I laughed harder.

"How did you _do_ that?" he asked and blushed at the flabbergasted looks on Trowa's and Wufei's faces.

"Do what?" Trowa and Wufei asked at the same time.

I felt good. I hadn't laughed this hard in a long time. I pinged them all, thought 'that', and fell to my knees, clutching my sides in laugher at their faces. I was breathless and gulped in air as I finally came to again. "God, that was priceless," I giggled. "I can't wait to do that to Howard."

Sitting on the floor, clutching my sides I must have looked ridiculous, but to see the grins on their faces was worth it. I looked up at them, smiling. "It's good to be together, again."

We sat in medical, waiting for the others. I was nervous.

I had brought them to the bridge and after they sat down, I handed them each a headset. I had instructed Bethor to merge and give them the same information as Heero. Quatre had cried, as he came out of it, Trowa looked expressionless and Wufei looked as if he would like to kill something.

"This ship comes from the future. There will be a war," Trowa sounded matter of fact. "Again."

I took a deep breath. "Not if we can prevent it."

"We will have to fight." Wufei said.

"Yes," I toyed with my braid, "if you decide to join, that is."

They were quiet for a long time, all of us lost in our own thoughts. What if they said no?

Wufei looked at Quatre as he spoke up, but the question was directed at me. "We can walk away if we don't, can't we?"

I nodded, solemn. "If you decide to go, I won't stand in your way." I stood up. "Can we discuss this with all parties together, please? You certainly have some thinking to do. You know your way around now. See to the Mananacs', to your people. Bethor will show you to your quarters. Freshen up. Rest. We'll talk tomorrow." I turned on my heel and marched from the bridge straight into the hangar and into my Ezgadi.

I slept the whole night cycle, rolled out of bed, shaved and showered. Looking in the mirror before dressing, I made a decision. While I had a cup of replicated coffee in my galley, I inquired Bethor of the status of Sally Po. Bethor informed me that she was in medical. I pinged her and asked of a moment of her time and the use of the gene test unit.

As I entered medical, my eyes fell on Heero's sleeping form. "How is he?"

She shrugged, but her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "He had a high fever, but it's broken now. This serum is working." She shook her head, not believing her own words. "He's rapidly building up massive immune bodies against this virus. I predict a week until he's completely cured."

I smiled at that. "Make that three days," I chuckled dryly. "He's had a tendency to astonish every doc so far." I remembered all the times Heero had been injured, and the self-destruction of Wing. "That would be the second time he cheated sure death."

"Right," she said and stuffed her hands in the pockets of the doctors' coat she wore over her Preventers uniform. "What can I do for you? You're not ill, are you?"

"Nah," I said. "I want you to take a gene sample from me." As she raised an eyebrow, I continued, "I need you to confirm something" I slumped in the seat in front of one if the stations.

"Okay." She opened a box and came up with the unit, "Put your finger in here." It stung a bit, and there was a drop of blood on the pad. She typed a few commands and looked up expectantly as the apparatus beeped finally. "And now?"

I exhaled slowly. "Now," I inhaled, "I need you to go to the next room and look up a genetic sample marked 'Nemamiah'. Compare them. Let me know what you find. I'll wait. "

I closed my eyes and let my head fall back as she left the room. After a while, my old soldier senses told me I was being watched. I opened my eyes and slowly turned my head. Heero stared at me, eyes glazed with fever. "Hey," I said softly, "how are you?"

He regarded me a moment. "Fine," he said eventually.

"Right," I forced a smile, "fine, he says. I don't believe it. You are a liar, Yuy."

"And you aren't," he said earnestly. "Nobody believed in your story. Including me." There was a long pause, as we stared at each other. "I'm really going to be ok, aren't I?"

"Yeah," I nodded thoughtfully, taking a deep breath. "I knew nobody would believe. Hell, I wouldn't have believed me! I'm just glad there's still a little trust in you all for me y'know. When in doubt..." I stopped as his eyes strayed to the doorway through which Sally had disappeared. I turned my head and saw her, leaning against the doorframe, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"It's a match," she said, "one hundred percent."

I pursed my lips. It was true. Okay, I still had small doubts being this child. They were gone now. "Thanks," I said quietly.

"This...," she waved behind her, "genetic sample bank only contains original crew members."

"Yeah," I nodded slowly, "I know."

"Duo?" She looked puzzled.

I took a deep breath. "Bethor, can you call Wufei, Trowa and Quatre to medical, please?" I grimaced. I had to tell them, now. It wouldn't help their trust in me if they found out by chance. Besides, Sally suspected something, I could tell. "I'll explain. Just wait for the others, okay? I don't think I can got through this twice." I gave her a small, sad smile and turned back to Heero, who looked suspicious, too, in his own way.

I took a few deep breaths as we waited in silence and steeled myself for the walk into the stasis room. Wufei was the first to arrive. He looked disheveled, as if he just had woken up, but relieved as he saw Heero awake and Sally okay. Trowa and Quatre followed shortly after. I didn't want to do this. Internally, I squared up to the inevitable while I addressed Heero. "You up to a little walk, just across the corridor? I have to show you all something."

"Duo?" Sally asked, "what are you up...," she halted, frowning. "That's where the stasis chambers are."

I ignored her and the others who looked fairly puzzled, stood and held out a hand as I walked up to Heero's bed. "You coming?" I really didn't want to do this.

He nodded and reached for my hand as he sat up, gingerly tested his strength by standing and promptly swayed. I hurriedly caught him around the waist and steadied him. Wufei came up on his other side and lent an arm. "'Kay," I breathed. "Let's get this show on the road." I had to do this.

"It is time for you to learn the one thing Bethor revealedonlyto me." I paused and gathered my wits. I noticed their sudden uneasiness. "It's nothing relevant to you. It's personal."

I stared at Trowa. "You asked why the AI of this ship accepted me, let me in. The truth is the ship has been calling to me for the last four years."

Wufei made a disbelieving sound as I punched the pad and the door opened.

"These," I made an arch with my arm after we had entered the room, "are the last of the original crew of Bethor, Defender and Battleship, launched in A.C. 257. They died while trying to fulfill their duty. Please, pay them your respect." I paused for a proper amount of time. While Trowa had taken my place in supporting Heero, I had slowly walked up to the last one in line. I stated thename and rank of the one in the chamber and walked to the next, repeating the ritual. I stopped at the last two chambers and stepped up between them, turned to face the others and swallowed hard. Despite that my voice sounded hoarse as I said, "this was Hope, Warrior, Suit pilot." I laid my left hand on her chamber as I said it. "And this, Ambriel, Warrior and Captain." I laid my right hand on his chamber, staring straight ahead at the wall, seeing nothing as I whispered, "My parents."

I think Quatre clutched his hand up to his chest. I'm not sure. There was no sound for a long while.

I think Bethor had confirmed this to them, or it was Sally's nod, because finally Quatre stepped up to me and looked down to my left into my mother's chamber. He stammered, "You... look just like her."

I blinked rapidly and chokedback a weak laugh. "I do, do I?" I fought against the familiar sting in my eyes and the lump in my throat. "And..." I swallowed, glanced down at the corpse of my father, the pale face, the white hair, forgotten already what I had wanted to say. The silence was gnawing at me. "He... he was an albino," I stated matter of factly as if it were the most important thing. I had to get out of here. I had to run. I had to hide. I think Quatre was going to hug me, but I shoved him out of the way as I fled the room. I ran down the hallways heedlessly. I ran and ran, until I stood in front of the captain's quarters. The one room I had not dared to enter. Until now.

I tentatively touched the pad and the door slid open and revealed the cabin, a cabin like the other ones. The other cabins had been cleaned. I had cleared out the few ones that weren't. However, in here, there were still things scattered all over the place, as if the resident would return any time. It looked a little... messy. It looked... lived in.

I stepped in and absently picked up a t-shirt from the floor, depositing it on the unmade bed. A hairclip lay on the nightstand beside the bed. My mother's? I picked it up and slid my fingers over the cool metal. A hairbrush. I looked around and noticed an open connecting door. I stepped in the next room and gasped. A child's room. A few toys lay on the floor, a model ship. A teddy bear sat on the bed. Small pajamas. I sank down on the bed and picked up the teddy. One ear was ripped, the fur on the right arm worn. Mine?

I sat there a long time and stared at the toy. I looked up, startled by a pair of green eyes. Trowa knelt in front of me, his hands on my knees. I hadn't noticed him enter, or touching me. "I can't remember, Tro." I picked at the teddy's ripped ear. "You'd think I would. I was five, for Christ's sake. Bethor told me. I didn't believe, at first. But... I had the com unit. All my life, Tro. And, I... I read their logs, saw their vids. Saw... myself, as a kid. I..., God Tro, I look just like her. She laughed a lot, y'know? She knew she was dying yet she still laughed. Do you think that was, ... just like I do? Cover up... everything bad with a laugh?" I took in a shuddering breath.

"He shuttled me to Earth and put me in an escape pod, as my mother had died. There were only four of them left. He knew that I couldn't survive at that age, alone on the ship. As he was the last one, he ordered Bethor to contact me. Then he put himself in stasis. Bethor sent me dreams, the last years. So that I was able to build that ship and come here. To finish his mission." I slid down the edge of the bed and knelt in front of him. "My life is just... One. Big. Mission."

He put his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. I clung to him for all I was worth and sobbed in his shirt. God. Was that all I could do nowadays was cry? We sat there and he held me, rubbed my back until all I could cry no more. It felt good, somehow. Someone holding me, comforting me. I hadn't known Trowa could be this comforting.

"Okay?" he murmured in my ear, as my tears subsided.

I nodded and leaned back, wiping my face with my hands. "Yeah, thanks," I whispered, "I'm sorry." I figured we'd better get our asses out ofhere. I was startled to realize we'd been there for over an hour. I stood and took a last look around. "Come on," I said, "we need to find the others."

He nodded and looked earnestly at me. "I'm sorry."

I started to walk out and he followed. "What for?" I looked back over my shoulder.

"For doubting you. For ignoring your attempts at friendship."

I shrugged, but inwardly I was feeling a wave of longing. I smashed the feeling. "Maybe you weren't ready for that. We were young. It's okay." I couldn't let them in too close, now. God knows what would happen to me if we were successful.

A dart of panic shot through me. If my worst suspicions were true, I only had four months left to exist. Was this what Heero had been feeling? Knowing your time was limited? I took a few deep breaths. Would there be something left of me? Would they remember? I stopped cold in my tracks at the thought. Would there be anything left of what I did in our past? Or would it be as if I never had existed? Never piloted Deathscythe? Then... then everything would have turned out like my parents had known it. No. I shuddered.

"Duo?" Trowa took hold of my elbow, "What is it?" I didn't realize I'd stopped walking until he almost ran into me.

I gave him a wan little smile and shook my head. "Nothing, Tro. Everything's fine."

I was relieved as Bethor announced the arrival of the other shuttles and turned on my heel, almost running to the hangars, leaving a bewildered Trowa behind.

I greeted Howard enthusiastically and answered a bombardment of questions as well as I could. I took him to medical where he, too, received a com unit. After merging with Bethor on the bridge, he sat, stunned. "Whew."

"Yeah, whew."

He nodded slowly. "We need to repair this ship."

"There's more." And I told him about my parents, the rest of the story.

"Holy shit," was all he had to say to that. "You sure, lad?"

"Uh-huh. Sally took a gene test."

"Okay," He stood and stretched. "I need to unpack. Where can I crash?"

I was glad he made no fuss about that whole mess. Boy was I thankful. "Take one of the free quarters in section two," I told him absently.

He was silent as we walked down the hallways.

I cleared my throat. "You think the men are able to do the repairs?"

He laughed. "After what they did from all you came up with, they should be able to."

Fiddling with my braid, I took a deep breath. "I didn't come up with anything. It was all Bethor. Nothing of it was me." I was a little disappointed. My pride had been shot to hell as I had learned that all my inventions I had been so proud of had been just suggestions Bethor had planted in my head.

"Bullshit," Howard said, "No one I know could have realized all that. Even with the help of the AI." He turned and stepped in front of me, hands on my shoulders." It takes an extremely sharp mind to detail a few dreams to working schematics, figure out the connections, the details. Do you remember how much trouble you had pointing out the particulars to the technicians, to make them understand? Okay, the AI planted the idea. But you realized it."

--------------------

The next couple of days flew. There were things to organize, people to direct and equipment to sort. Most of my time was spent with the techs. I avoided the other pilots. I finally packed my things and moved in to one of the empty quarters when Wufei caught me. "We need to talk, Maxwell. You've been avoiding us."

I plastered a grin on my face. "Why do you think that," I asked, "there just was so much to do, people to meet..."

He snorted and grabbed me by the elbow. "And the Pope is a Buddist. Come on, let's have lunch." He steered me towards the cantina and I stopped in my tracks. All the pilots were gathered, even Heero, around a table with two empty seats. Wonderful. At least Wufei let go of my elbow as we approached.

"Hey, guys," I offered weakly, and took a seat between Quatre and Heero. "So, what's up?" I looked around and took in their serious expressions.

"First," Quatre spoke up, "we need to know how much you will pay us."

"Pay... you?" I almost choked on that.

"Yes," Trowa went on, "you hired us to be soldiers for you. Soldiers are paid. We each have a life you interrupted. We have expenses to pay."

"Hire...," I sputtered, "... for me." I looked around the table, opened and closed my mouth a few times, speechless. Then the anger rose. I clenched my fists and spat furiously, "you all can go to hell. I thought you understood. This fuckin' isn't for me, you assholes..."

Wufei spoke up, calmly. "And we'll be putting our lives at risk if we fight for you. How do you plan to compensate us for that?"

I was stunned, at first. Then I exploded.

"We are the only hope! These fucking bastards endanger all lifeonearth. People will die. They can't defend themselves. For God's sake! We fought a war for a better world, to make lives better, so that people could live in peace and have a good life. You would endanger all we sacrificed, all we fought for out of... of... greediness? This situation is worse than when Zechs tried to drop Libra on Earth." I had shouted the last sentences and clenched my teeth, took a few deep breaths in effort to calm down.

They were quiet.

I felt empty, cold with disappointment. "Okay. I'll ship you back."

I felt betrayed, and you could hear it in my voice. "I'm sorry I bothered you." I came to my feet so fiercely, the chair behind me clattered as it fell, I took a step backwards. "Take your people and go." I spat at the floor. "You disgust me. Asking for lousy payment. I thought you still were willing to fight for the good, to try and stop the evil. I'm sorry I was wrong. Don't come runningtome when it is too late. If they reach Earth, then that means I couldn't stop themBut I'll die trying I'll give my life if I have to. Alone if need be." I was so mad, I was trembling. Finally, I whispered, "I don't want to see you fuckers again, ever." I turned and ran full into Sally, who had crept up behind me, causing us both to stumble.

tbc


	5. Miniel

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: ?  
Pairing: 1x2, 43 (eventually)  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them, used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.  
  
Notes: Several years after the wars, the pilots have grown apart. When they meet again under unusual circumstances and an impending new war, will they be able to fight again, together?

Many thanks for Ellimaru for most helpful, throughout and work intensive betaing. Also to Sakusha for useful hints and tips, as well as content and flow check.

**Future of the Past - ****# 5 ****Miniel**

_A great angel whose chief virtue is that he can, when invoked,  
induce love in an otherwise cold and reluctant maiden_

---------------------------------

Battling with an again twisted wrench, I was still fuming while I changed a part among the other technicians. It was late evening and my stomach rumbled, reminding me that I not only missed lunch, but dinner, too. I earnestly considered moving back into my Ezgadi.

Earlier, I had been stopped from getting away by my run-in with Sally. I had still been stunned by their declaration of turning mercenaries on me, and Trowa and Wufei had jumped up from their seats and tried hard to restrain me. Quatre, hastily trying to get my attention by talking rapidity, tried to calm me down.

It came out that they only had wanted to test me. To reveal my intentions. Bastards. They all had apologized profusely. But I was still so livid, when they let go of me, I lashed out. I landed a blow to Trowa's jaw. Just as quickly, I turned and got Wufei in the stomach. They both went down.

Shocked at myself, I had stood there, blinked and looked at my fists. I never, ever, had been able to overcome one of them in hand to hand so easily before. We were always pretty much evenly matched. Now I had put down both, and with minute effort. Particularly Wufei, who had enough time to take a defensive stance when I took Trowa down. Now, as I thought about it, I had moved awfully fast. Too fast. I'd looked up at Quatre and blinked again. "What the hell..."

He looked as surprised as I felt. "Duo?"

"I... have no clue," I muttered as I took two steps backwards, turned and fled the room.

I'd lengthily vented my anger to Howard. Later, assoonas I felt I was able to do something rational and not trash everything around me, I'd picked up a wrench and got to work. This was my third twisted wrench, and the technician beside me was starting to get a little spooked. I sighed and got up from my crouched position, wiped the grease from my hands to my jeans,and decided to have a little heart to heart with Bethor, despite my rumbling stomach.

This was frightening. I had never been able to bend metal or move this fast. Okay, I had been pretty fast to begin with, but this? Hands in the pockets of my jeans, I made my way to the bridge and slumped down in the Captain's chair.

As it turned out, even Bethor had no reliable data. I was the first healthy person ever given the enhancement, and the AI recommended full medical and physical tests. I couldn't even say when it had started. I couldn't clearly remember when I had last gotten into a fight, or _had_ to move fast, buried as I had been in my work. I don't even know if I would have recognized my new abilities as unusual.

I was used to being superior in common bar fights, because of my training as a Gundam pilot. I always held back during those. I don't even remember when I had attempted to do something this emotionally charged in the last few years. Now, when I thought really hard about it, I couldn't even remember when my life since the wars hadn't been somewhat... flat. No real ups and no real downs, either.

My stomach reminded me that I still hadn't eaten, yet. I pushed the brooding thoughts aside and gotup from the seat, heading to the cantina.

------------

Heero sat alone at one of the tables, a glass in front on him. Somehow, this made me feel prickly, my stomach fluttering. I didn't want to be alone with him. It stirred up memories of all the times I sat at my laptop and checked my e-mail, hoping for a sign from him, from the others.

As I made my way over to the replicator I contemplated if I should sit at his table or pick another one for eating. Was I ready to forgive them this easily? All the time I felt his stare burning on my back. Crap. I had to talk to him eventually. May as well get it over with, now. Picking up the plate, I walked over and addressed him while pointing at an empty chair. "May I?"

He nodded, while his gaze never left me. In fact, I had a feeling it hadn't since I had entered. It made me uncomfortable, somehow.

"So, Heero, you out of medical already? With or without Sally's agreement?" I stuffed the food in my mouth, eyes trained on my plate.

"She agreed," he picked up his glass and took a sip, never looking away. "I'm cured, she said."

I had to control myself, not to squirm under his stare. I nodded and swallowed. "That's great. I'm glad."

"I have to thank you."

I shrugged, "No big deal. The stuff was here. Why not use it?"

He played with his glass, "I got your emails."

I froze, fork halfway to my mouth. Where the hell had this come from? I frowned at him.

"I thought," he took a deep breath, "it would be better, if no one knew. So no one would miss me."

"You are an idiot, Yuy." I continued eating. "So, you thought it would be better to go from this existence thinking nobody gives a damn about you? How the hell did you got infec... Never mind. It's none of my business."

"No," he looked down in his glass, "It's okay. I... it's better that someone cares. I realized that in the last couple of weeks." He looked up and stared at me again, "I vanished because I _had_wanted someone. Something. You all had someone or something, after the war. Quatre had his sisters and his company. Trowa had his circus and Catherine. Wufei, the Preventers. And you had Hilde and the scrap yard. I... wanted to find something, too."

"You could have had us. Or the Preventers, too. I know Une would stood on her head to get you to sign on." I chewed thoughtfully.

He shook his head. "No, I wanted something of my own. And I wanted to never kill again." There was a pause, while I continued to polish my plate, before he continued in a low voice. "I thought I had found someone. But... after a short while, I realized it wasn't real. That this person only reminded me of someone else, someone who was already involved otherwise. What I had found was just a poor copy."

"Of Relena?" I asked while I pushed my plate aside and leaned my forearms on the table.

"No," he smirked slightly. "Not Relena. Relena... I thought I loved her, for a while. I was very young, then. But I realized relatively quickly it was only the idea I loved, the idol, what she represented. Not the person."

I tilted my head, surprised. "So?"

"So," he repeated. "It lasted two weeks, was over before it began, actually. Shortly before Mariemaia. Long enough to get infected." He snorted. "They found out, in the hospital, afterwards. I figured it would be better to vanish again." He looked somewhat sad.

"Oh," I paused, trying to think of something encouraging to say. "You really should tell the other girl what you feel, now, that you're okay. Maybe she'll change her mind, dump her boyfriend, and pick you instead. You'll never know. You have a lot to give." I studied his expression, astonished how openly he was displaying his emotions. I liked that. "You'd think she'll be interested? You've changed. She might like that."

"I hope so." He smirked cheerlessly. "I had a lot of time with nothing to do but think. Watch people. It was... educational. So, where is Hilde?"

"Hilde?" I leaned back and played with my braid. "She's still on L2, in her scrapyard. I sold my share to her when we started Invent Techs, Howie 'n me. She's still a good friend." I shrugged wistfully. "Sometimes, I think she 'n Howie are the only friends I have." I gnawed at my lower lip.

He furrowed his brows, "You aren't... together?" Somehow he looked shocked.

I laughed. "No. Never. Hilde... she's like a...," I gestured wildly, "like the family I never had. Like... a sister, I think." I nodded fondly, "Yeah. A sister."

He stared as he slowly repeated, "A... sister."

"Uh-huh." I grinned at him. "I can talk to her, you know? About almost everything. And she smacks me on the head if I go overboard, or kicks me in the ass when I need it."

"So," he croaked and cleared his throat, "How is your company?

I blinked at his abrupt change of topic. "Great. We make good profit. And now, with the new ship..." I trailed off. For this ship to ever be sold, we had to battle and win against the aliens, first. "We'll see about that. We donate half of our profits, for orphaned and homeless children, y'know? And we donated replicators to orphanages and churches on L2, too."

Heero nodded. "I heard about that."

"It feels good to be able to do something. To make a difference." I pondered that for a moment. Noticing he was staring funny at me, I asked, "What?"

"You look so alive when you talk like that." Looking away he whispered, "I missed you."

I cackled weakly to cover uphow his declaration made my heart beat faster. "You? You used to spend half your time telling me to shut up. The other half to go away." I licked my lips. Somehow I felt like my stomach was quivering. "You sure have changed, Yuy."

"Yeah," he sighed, still toying with his glass.

"Duo!" A voice called. "I've been looking for you!"

I glanced up and saw Steve, one of the sweepers' techs, coming in the cantina. I groaned inwardly. Of all the times..., not now.

"Hello, Steve," I answered politely. "I didn't know Howie brought you."

"Yeah, he always picks the best." He came to our table and nodded to Heero while leaning forward, one hand on the table and one of the backrest of my chair. "You free tonight? I have a bottle of vodka replicated and we could have a..." he leaned closer to whisper in my ear "little fun together," his tongue darted out to lick at the shell of my ear.

I quickly glanced at Heero. I was sure he had picked up on that, despite the whispered words. He had excellent hearing. I couldn't help the embarrassed feeling, creeping up on me. Why the hell was I embarrassed? I never before had problems with openly displayed come on's, or my sexuality.

I felt my ears go hot, "Uhm, Steve, I'm not in the mood today." I put my palm to his chest and gave a little shove. "Perhaps another time. Go, find someone else for a f... entertainment, okay?" I bit my tongue at the almost slip.

Steve was a tech at one of the sweepers' stations on Earth and occasionally we have had a roll in the sack. Uncomplicated. Unattached. Just for fun, to relieve tension.

He pouted slightly as he straightened and took a step back, but shrugged. "No problem, man. Let me know, okay?"

"Sure," I replied. "I'll find you."

His eyes darted from me to Heero, who glared strangely at him, and back to me. "Oh, if you..."

"No! Hush," I interrupted hastily and with a forced grin added, "Do me a favor, shut up and evaporate, will you?" I stared at his retreating ass, more because I had to compose myself before facing Heero again, than because I wanted to check out Steve's firm ass.

Embarrassed was too mild a word. Turning back to Heero I saw that he, too, had watched Steve leave the room. I wiped my damp hands on my jeans and took a deep breath. Why had this been so uncomfortable while in Heero's presence?

"Your... friend?" He looked back at me and I was taken aback at the intensity of his gaze and the scowl on his face. Whoa.

"An...," I searched for the right word, "acquaintance. We sometimes... hang out together, when I'm on Earth." I nodded meaningfully. "On business trips, you know? I sometimes crash at the sweepers' places."

"I see," he said, looking back in his glass, distressed, somehow.

Had the blatant come on from Steve disturbed him? I suddenly felt as if I had kicked a puppy. Hopefully, this hadn't put a damper on my attempted friendship. All I needed now was for him to be disgusted with my ... standards. I cleared my throat and said, "So, where were we?"

He looked up with that intense gaze and I'm sure I blushed again. "You told me about your company and it ended in your realization that I had changed."

"Oh, yes, okay." I paused to gather my thoughts. "You've given up your training, haven't you?"

He shrugged. "It seemed somewhat pointless at the time. I'll have to train again. I have to build up muscle mass and stamina if I'm to pilot again."

I searched his face. "So, you've decided to stay with us? You said you didn't want to kill again."

"It doesn't matter, anymore." He shook his head. "I won't duck out. Besides, I'm in your debt."

I bristled at this bullshit. "You are so _not_ in my debt. You know I would have done that for... uhm, anyone. I didn't do it to make you stay. I said before, I won't hold it against anyone who doesn't want to stay, for any honest reason. I will not be responsible for anyone's state of mind." I noticed he still stared at me intently. "What?"

"Your eyes." He canted his head and smiled. It was a nice smile. It left me breathless.

"What's... with my eyes?" What was going on with me? Why was I so nervous in his presence?

"They changed color. I'd noticed it this morning, too." He leaned over the table, put his fingertips under my chin and stared intently in my eyes, searching. "They become violet when you're angry. I've never noticed this before." He licked his lower lip.

I blinked at him, confused. He was so near, I could feel his breath on my face as he talked. His touch was almost... affectionate. "Well, yeah." I shivered as his fingertips trailed over my skin as he took his hand back. "They... do that now ..." I trailed off and stared over his shoulder at the wall. A thought hit me. "Heero," I said slowly, all businesslike again, "has Bethor informed you all about how to fight the Xetoins?"

"It mentioned a new developed weapon, built in the mobile suits," he replied.

"Nothing more?" I furrowed my brows at him. His eyes were so blue.

He sat back in his chair, his expression changed to suspicion. "Is there something more?"

I exhaled fiercely. "That deceitful bundle of scrap." I laughed ironically, "Figures. Leaving the hard part to me. Thank you, Bethor. Asshole."

"I was not able to evaluate the correct approach." Bethor said.

"Yeah, well, but I can?" I snorted.

"The percentage of a positive outcome was interpreted correctly."

Mulling that over, I thought about a way to do so. Heero waited patiently for me, to elaborate. Finally, I had an idea. "Can you establish a complete holographic Xetoin?" I asked Bethor. "With all that..." I gestured wildly, "crap?"

"Positive. I have several programs at my disposal, a complete enemy ship with crew, too. A usual training session for warriors."

"Okay, the ship it is." I smiled, slowly. "It's too late, today." Ignoring Heero's questioning look, I mulled it over. "Inform the mighty ex-Gundam pilots to meet tomorrow morning 0600 hours at holo deck three. Combat ready. Prepare a fight simulation. Man against ma... err, Xetoin, sans weapons. Tell them not to have breakfast." I snickered at that.

"Affirmative, Captain."

"Duo?" Heero asked finally, eyes never leaving my face.

I sighed. "There is a huge advantage these aliens have on us. I have it to show you, it can't be explained so easily." I blinked at him, "And then... and then I can try to explain why my eyes change color."

-----------------------------

I bit my lip as I saw Trowa's face. He had a dark bruise on his yaw, from my punch yesterday. I almost was sorry.

We stood in front of the holo deck and I explained. "This is a first for me, too. Although, I might have an advantage, sinceI have information about what these," I gestured at the door, "are capable of. We will fight holo Xetoins, hand to hand." I glanced, irritated, at Wufei, as he snorted arrogantly. "They might be smaller in appearance, but don't let looks deceive you. This simulation is authentic. The safety protocol prevents us frombeing harmed." I palmed the pad and the door slid open. After we entered, it was as if we were on another ship.

Bethor greeted us. "This hologram mirrors the interior of a Xetoin fighter. Five ships will arrive in approximately four months. A Xetoin crew consists of ten per ship. When this simulation starts, you will be on an enemy ship, in a combat situation. I will now project floor plans."

We studied the layout of the enemy ship and memorized it.

"Okay. Mission is, bring the bridge into our possession, and disable the crew. Stay together this time." I had a good idea of what to expect. I didn't know how much Bethor had told them, but from Heero's reaction yesterday, I suspected not too much.

On a whim, I squeezed Heero's shoulder and he turned his head, smiling at me. For a moment I was stunned, couldn't take my eyes from his lips. My mouth suddenly was dry. I swallowed and ripped my gaze away, muttering, "Prepare yourself. Bethor, standard safety protocols. Start simulation."

I pressed my back against the wall of the hallway and saw Heero do the same. I felt as if we were back in time, in an OZ base, sneaking around. Trowa crouched low and peered around a corner. He signaled the all clear, and we crept forward, silent. I had our backs.

Being weaponless did not sit well with me and I found myself trying to tug at a non- existent holster more than once. This was test for me as well as the others. The serum had changed me and I needed to know how much.

We were soldiers again. We crept through the hallways, silent as shadows. Two corners to go until we reached the bridge. I had just turned around to check behind us again when I felt it. I heard Quatre gasp in front of me and wail softly. I whirled and found Trowa and Wufei grimacing and turning pale. I couldn't see Heero's face, but I suspected he looked much like the others. A Xetoin stood in front of us.

Quatre fell to his knees, panting heavily. He started heaving, and I was thankful I had the foresight to tell them not to eat this morning.

I felt it, too. Terror. Almost overwhelming fear. An alarm sounded and I spotted two more of the aliens coming our way. Wufei staggered, gagging. Trowa and Heero were against the wall, sliding down to their knees, eyes wide.

I balled my fists, clenched my teeth and chanted in my head. Reaching deep down into myself, I sought that dark place; that mindset which enables me to kill ruthlessly. Shinigami.

Feeling the fear subside, I worked on my focus. It was like feeling through cotton. The fear was still there, but it didn't immobilize me anymore. I noticed that I, too, had gone down, on one knee. I pushed up from my crouched position, and lunging forward, attacked the Xetoin closest to us.

I don't know how a Xetoin looks if it is surprised, but I think that must have been its expression. I kicked forcefully against a joint in its right leg and the alien chirped. Grabbing his -I thought of it as shoulder - I spun it around, so that it faced its two approaching comrades. There was a crunching sound as I snapped its neck.

I pictured the many helpless children, the people that will die if we fail, and worked up a cold dark fury as I sprinted towards the approaching Xetoins with a war cry. I made a flying kick up to one's head, came down in a crouch behind the second one and delivered a hard punch to where our kidneys would be. It almost folded in half and as it turned around with a swing I came up to a stand, blocked left and shot my right fist straight at its throat. It dropped, dead. I hoped.

Crouching low, I hit with a double punch to the other's midsection, took a half step back and delivered a roundhouse kick. I heard a crack and it dropped like a stone. I stood back in a defensive stance and blinked furiously as suddenly the ship vanished and I stood in the middle of a holo deck.

That was...I didn't know what the fuck that was, but I knew that never in my life had I fought so fast and powerful. Hell, I didn't even feel winded.

"... out of it. Duo. Can you hear me?" A voice. Heero.

I shook my head and fell out of my stance. "Heero?"

They stood around me, but at a safe distance. Not one of them came within striking range, and they were staring at me as if _I_ was one of the aliens.

"Duo? You with us now?" Heero asked.

I slumped to the floor and rubbed my hands over my face. "Yeah."

Quatre dropped down beside me. "That was horrible. I never in my life felt such fear."

"Your eyes." Trowa said. "Your eyes were... unusual. Gleaming violet." He knelt down in front of Quatre.

"You okay?" Trowa asked him.

Quatre nodded. That was about all he could manage.

Wufei sat down in front of me. "You were moving remarkably fast. I've never seen you move so quickly." I supposed he thought of me in a new light. I sure did.

"You were not affected." Heero stated, studying me.

"I was." I looked at him as I leaned back on my arms, stretched my legs out between Wufei and Trowa and crossed them at the ankles. "The Xetoins have mental amplifiers on their ships. Their main weapon is fear. They project it, amplify it a thousand-fold, and send it right at you. It renders you incapable of defending yourself." I noticed I was still staring at Heero and hastily averted my eyes to the tips of my boots. What was I doing? "The pilots can't fight."

"Then how...?" Trowa said.

"You could, Maxwell," Wufei remarked.

I took a deep breath. "This ship came here in A.C.179. No one was aware that they were ill. At least at first. The doc discovered the illness during a check up on my mother's pregnancy. While they tried to repair the ship, the scientists sought a cure. They developed, no, improved, a serum but it was too late. The serum was supposed to enhance cell reproduction, fast renewal without exhaustion of the original genetic code."

I paused. "It didn't work, but only because the genetic code of the time travelers was so badly damaged. The crutch is; this serum also enables the building of some sort of mental block. Sort of a defense against the aliens. It activates brain functions, which normally are latent. They could have been successful, but for the illness."

They looked thoughtful until Quatre shook his head. "If not for the illness, they wouldn't have developed this serum."

Finally, Wufei said, "We could have a chance, then. With this new weapon we can break their shields."

I nodded. "It could work." I looked around to gauge their reactions. "The serum speeds up the healing process, and builds an advanced immune system. It increases strength and speed. But there's a down side. It slows down the aging process. I don't know how you feel about that. I think it's also why my eyes tend to change color with my mood."

Musing that over, I then continued my thoughts aloud, "But, maybe it's an effect in combination with the nanites, the stuff the doctors did to us. Sally will have to test me. Maybe that's why my hair grows so fast, too."

"You," Quatre gasped, "have already injected that serum yourself?" He still looked not well.

I shook my head, sadly. "No. My parents did."

A bitter thought came to mind and I locked eyes with Heero, "They made sure they did everything they could for me to survive. So that I could come back here and finish their mission." I was sure I was beingunfair with the implication, but he got the hint and looked away, his expression showing regret.

"But," Trowa threw in, "during the war..."

"Most of the effects aren't visible until adulthood. Don't ask my why." I shrugged. "Although, I didn't catch the plague on L2 as a kid, so my immune system must have been affected soon after the injection."

"So, you didn't feel it?" Wufei inquired.

I laughed sullenly. "Oh, I felt it. Just dampened somehow, I suppose." I sat up and folded my legs Indian style, looking pointedly at Quatre. "You seemed the most affected. You think it had something to do with your 'space heart'?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. I felt the impact lessen somewhat, as you put the first one down. As soonasthey all were gone, it stopped."

"You went berserk." Wufei addressed me frankly. "We had to stop the simulation to get near you."

I slowly shook my head. "I wouldn't have hurt any of you. I would have come to on my own. It served me well, back during the war. I've never hurt an ally."

Heero snorted at that.

"Oh, come on," I looked apologetic at him. "I didn't know who you were when I shot you."

Quatre snickered and Heero shot him a glare. It was a well-known story, how we met. I shot him to rescue the girl in distress.

I'm sorry I had to put you through that. But," I looked around, "you wouldn't have believed me. I had to show you. I guess we're one for one now." I snorted. "If you are to battle the Xetoins, you have to take the serum."

There was a long pause before Trowa spoke up. "It will alter our bodies. You said it slows down aging. How much? I mean, will the cell ability to reproduce be finally exhausted at, say, forty and we'll die still looking like we're twenty-four?"

"I honestly don't know. Bethor said I was the first healthy person this serum was used on. So..." I trailed off and shrugged. "But we can't likely wait until I'm forty, so it's a risk we'llhaveto take. If you have any more questions, ask Bethor. I've told you everything I know." I pushed up from the floor and walked out of the room, leaving them behind.

tbc


	6. Rachel

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: ?  
Pairing: 1x2, 43 (eventually)  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them, used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.  
  
Notes: Several years after the wars, the pilots have grown apart. When they meet again under unusual circumstances and an impending new war, will they be able to fight again, together?

Out on the web in thanks for Ellimaru and Sakusha, betaing this, and providing the right order of words, tenses, commas...

**Future of the Past - # 6 Rachel**

Known as the Air's Lady. She is one of the great angels of Humor  
and Self-Confidence. She is responsible for Temperance, which permits  
us not to be crushed by the negative events occurring in our lives.  
Rachel prevents men and women to consider fromconsidering events  
with too much gravity

---------------------------------

"... important for, by a takeover through the Preventers." Une's voice was like steel. "This ship is a weapon. Earth Sphere law dictates that we have complete control or it will have to be destroyed."

Wufei definitely looked ill. "You don't understand, we have to..."

"I understand very well," her voice was icy. "We have five ex-Gundam pilots with a star ship under their control. If you don't hand over the ship, you all will be persona non grata in the Earth Sphere. The government demands it. Agent Chang, you are our representative on board and you know the rules all too well."

I tensed as I heard that, and Wufei bristled. "How do you expect me to...?"

We shared a look. This was unexpected. Well, maybe not completely. We'd had discussed the possibilities after Wufei sent his reports to Une two weeks before. But we really didn't think they were that _stupid._

Wufei sighed. "Une, what exactly has the government demanded?"

"First, hand over the starship. Second, prove that this alleged threat is real and that this is not a plot to take over the United Earth Sphere."

Wufei's jaw clenched, "We have proved more than once that we...that _none_ of us is interested in power."

She sighed. "Well, you know that and I know that. I am well aware of your record. They have your records as well. But unless you bring living proof..." Her hands folded on her desk. "They want a living alien, to prove your point. If this is not possible, you will at least allow the ship to be under the control of the Preventers."

I interrupted. "Une, this is crap. This is my ship, I found it and I'm the captain, now. If you want to bring the Preventers in to help fight the Xetoins, fine. If you bring them to attempt a takeover by force, you will be in for one hell of a surprise."

"That's what I mean Maxwell," she shook her head. "You can't take command of a squadron of Preventer agents. The government will feel threatened. As long as you cooperate, they will leave you alone. And you'll need the reinforcements. You stated so yourself."

"Well," Wufei said, "we could use them, that is true. But we should be able to fight the first scouts with the forces we have on board. If we crush them at the first, it is possible that they will decide we aren't worth the trouble and pass us by.

She shook her head. "Not likely. Overall, military rules state that at least a second attempt will be made, to look for missing scouts. These aliens will likely operate by the same rules. And we need living proof, don't forget that."

"What plan of action has the government decided on, Une?" I asked, impatiently.

"They want to send a delegation of diplomats, military observer and agents immediately. Commander Wright is to take command of the ship. After the first battle and we have had a chance to interrogate the aliens, we will decide what further action to take."

I grinned devilishly, "They want to interrogate them, huh? Well, they'll be in for a surprise." I shook my head, "Fools. Shoulda known."

There was a moment where I paused to think about my choices, and realized that I really didn't have any. "Okay. I'll hand over the ship, but only temporarily. I will not stand for it to fall into the wrong hands. Note my protest. This ship is my property, by the laws of the Earth Sphere, functional or not."

"The weapons on board that ship give me just cause to confiscate it, don't forget that," she said.

I grimaced.

"Commander Une," Wufei cut in, "this is pointless. The ships AI will accept no one other than Maxwell as its captain. You have my word on that. Circumstances are as they are, I cannot go over this with you in detail, right now. Not on an open channel. Let me offer a compromise. Duo should remain captain, but under the supervision of Commander Wright."

She nodded slowly. "I will make that proposal to the Earth Sphere. It's a possibility."

"Besides," I cut in, "you're still very much dependent upon my good will to get your people here. That should mean something to the mighty, shouldn't it? Without my advanced shuttles, there's no way you'd get here in time. We could make a go for it and let you sit and stir. Take a shit on the demands of the government," I smirked. "Besides, who decided that Jupiter is under the laws of the Earth Sphere?" I spread my hands. "No Earth here."

"The fact that you were born here, in the Earth Sphere, Maxwell, makes you partial to the laws of the Unified Earth Sphere government," she said sharply.

"Ah," I said. "Of course."

Wufei gave me a piercing look. "Une," he said slowly, "Let's not discuss this now. Will you be here joining us?"

"Presuming there will be a commute shuttle, yes. I'll accompany Commander Wright and the delegations."

"Of course," Wufei stated stiffly, and she nodded and cut the line.

"Well," I said grimacing, "that went... well."

"Maxwell," Wufei said warningly, as he turned his full attention to me. "What have you hatched out now?"

"Me?" I said innocently, pointing to myself. "Nothing, yet. I like to act in the spur of the moment, you know." I leaned back and lazily stretched my hands over my head. "Do you think Une will have me sign immigration papers, when this is over?

----------

I laid in my bed, slowly trailing my hands down my body. God, but I was horny. Had it really been almost two months since I had seen any action? Self gratification just isn't cutting it anymore. I was starting to wish I hadn't turned Steve down. He propositioned me twice more since that day in the cantina with Heero, all which I declined.

Normally, it was no big deal. An evening of fun, a fast release of tension, pounding into a warm, willing body. But, somehow, it didn't feel right anymore, and that confused me. I closed my hand around my stiff cock and slowly began caressing it.

More and more I had found myself thinking about Heero, more so since I had seen Quatre and Trowa a little over a week ago, pressed against a wall in a remote hallway. They were kissing passionately, their hands roaming and bodies grinding into each other. I stopped short in my tracks and stared, wide eyed. They hadn't seen me...at least I hoped they hadn't. Trowa's back was pressed against the wall, head thrown back, eyes closed tightly. Quatre was pressed against him, his lips trailing down Trowa's neck.

I was paralyzed. Okay... Quatre had told me that they were together. But I hadn't really stopped to think about it. At that moment, it hit me what exactly he meant by 'together'. They were lovers. Quite passionately, as it looked like.

I left them undisturbed and I quietly retreated to my cabin, only to have troubled dreams. I always thought that I had been the only one of us who was interested in the same gender. I'd always been the unconventional, weird one out of us five.

I explored my sexuality while staying with Hilde. To my discovery, working on the scrap yard in the heat, with half clothed men, skin shining with sweat, muscles shifting, turned me on. I had been confused, at first. But after that, I quickly came to terms with it. And, I never lacked opportunities to keep on exploring. On both genders.

Now, as oneofmy hands roamed over my body, tugged on my nipple, while the other one stroked my stiff cock, I tried to picture one of my past lovers. However, the only picture that came to mind was Heero. His eyes shining, his sweat-slicked body writhing, hair tousled... I came with a hoarse groan, shuddering and breathing in short gasps.

God. Where the hell had that come from? I lay there, panting, my heart racing. All I had to do was think of Heero this way, and I was gone. Whew. My hand searched absently for the tissues on the nightstand, wiping up the mess on my belly and chest, feeling a little bit ashamed.

How could I? Heero was straight, wasn't he? Heero was a fantasy. Plain and simple. I could be honest and mature enough with myself to admit that. I'm a big enough boy to know the difference between fantasy and reality.

I could be with him, absolutely and truly being his friend, and have moments of intense lust. I was human, I was male, I was bi. And yes, it was okay if I wanted him. But it wouldn't be okay to let him know that. And it sure as hell wouldn't be okay to act on it. Heero wanted someone else. Some girl, he told me. He was straight. So I wouldn't. Period. The end.

I thought of the times I had watched and participated in Heero's training these past few weeks. He was merciless, working out became an obsession. The results were remarkable. He was a sight to behold. His newly built up muscles rippling under the skin, wet hair clinging on his face. I was startled to realize I had begun to notice him as more than just a friend. I noticed him as a man. A potential lover.

Heero had made it so easy for me to notice him, too. If I didn't know better, I could fool myself into thinking he was actually flirting with me, however shyly. During the meals, the meetings, the training sessions, the sparring sessions. The evenings we spent together. Playing chess, or a game of pool in the bar we had programmed in one of the holo suites. We actually spent time really talking, about mundane things.

The time he came in to the gym showers while I was in it, towel riding low on his hips. He had acted nonchalant, but his gaze had been so hot, intense. His eyes had been so deep blue. And, I had stood there like a deer caught in headlights. Staring. At his sweat covered body. Trying not to let him know how his presence stirred my body.

Wufei had refused to spar with me any longer. It injured his pride that I could beat him quite soundly, in a matter of seconds. It was about then that they all had decided to take the serum. There had been a few unpleasant effects, at first. I worried, but after a couple of days, they were back on their feet again.

The serum started to show an effect, after just a couple of weeks. Now, we were all pretty well matched, just like old times. Heero had slowly caught up with us, too. Now he was almost superior in strength, once again.

We began to train in the holo suites, MS suit combat, like the Maganacs and as well as few sweeper pilots. But we five trained in simulated cockpits of our improved Gundams.

Howard, with a few special techs, had begun to reconstruct them, with improvements, which Bethor contributed. For now, we could start training with the MS suits already on board. The ships main drive was now almost online. With just a few more minor repairs, we would start to roam the solar system, shielding Earth, and waiting for the Xetoins.

-----------------

I tugged at the sheets to get a more comfortable position, trying to get some sleep. But my thoughts strayed to Heero again. I sighed and rubbed my face. It had to stop. I came to a decision and glanced at the clock. Just short often.

"Bethor, locate Steven McKarmedy."

"Steven McKarmedy is in holo suite four."

I got up, donned a pair of jeans and a shirt and went to the 'bar'. Jazz Music played as the door opened. It was well occupied. I spotted him, standing at the corner of the bar, a beer clutched in his hand, talking with a few of his comrades. Walking up to them I grabbed the beer from his hand, took a deep swing from it.

"Hey," he said, "get your own."

I smiled at him and shrugged. "Why bother?"

He smiled back and laid his arm around my shoulder. "I had almost given up hope, thought you'd gone all eunuch on me."

"There's been a lot on my mind lately, sorry." I took another swing from the bottle.

He squeezed my arm. "Never mind. I know what's been going on. You ready to hand over the ship to the big boys, tomorrow?"

"Mhmm." I nodded my head as I took another drink of his beer. Une and the Preventers were due tomorrow. I put the now empty bottle on the bar and leered at him. "You free this evening?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

I smirked, turned and pushed him back against the wall, hands spread wide on his chest. "Y'know, I wouldn't mind a little action, right now." I pressed my body against him and kissed him. Hard. A mouth locked tight, teeth clicking, tongues going for tonsils kind of kiss. One that promised hot, deep penetration, a rocking bed, sweat-slicked bodies kind of kiss. I watched his eyes close slowly; felt him clutching at my shoulders, his body pressing against mine. He was instantly hard. I wasn't. It felt wrong, somehow. I heard a glass shattering somewhere behind me.

I broke the kiss and leaned back, looking at him, and he opened his eyes, panting. His dreamy expression changed to alarmed as he looked over my shoulder. I whirled around and saw Heero standing in the middle of the bar, hands clenched and face expressionless. But, his eyes... burning into me, they looked... distressed. A deep shining blue. I could see their color across the room. Trowa sat beside him at the table, a hand raised to his arm as if trying to hold him back. I hadn't seen them as I came into the bar. I stared at Heero, baffled. What had him so... worked up?

All of a sudden, my libido dropped to zero. I was still staring at Heero when he took a deep breath and looked away. He said something to Trowa and left the bar. That was odd. Was he mad that I hadn't noticed them as I came to the bar? I guess I _was_ a bit ...distracted.

"Duo?" Steve tugged at my arm.

"I'm... sorry, Steve," I shook my head as I turned back to him, struggling to smile. "I'm... it's not you. Okay?" I patted him on the shoulder, taking a deep breath. "I can't do that, anymore. Sorry I lead you on."

He looked confused, disappointed. "What's the matter with you? It's that... guy, isn't it?" He made a motion with his head to the door.

"Whatta'ya mean?" I was in full denial. "He's just a former comrade, a brother in arms."

"Yeah." He turned back to the bar and ordered a new bottle of beer. "If you say so."

"I do." Snatching the bottle from out of his fingers I made my way over to Trowa. "Hey, Tro, didn't see you first." I gestured to the door, "What was that about with Heero?"

He looked funny at me. "He... dropped his glass. He went to go change."

"Ah," I nodded. "So, where's Ouat?"

His expression softened. "Going over tactics with Wufei. Do you know everyone who's arriving tomorrow?"

I took a swing from the bottle. "Nah. Some dickheads from governments, a bunch of Preventer agents, this Commander Wright and Une."

"You okay with that?"

I shrugged. "It's not like we can avoid it. Let them think they're in charge. If it comes to action, they'll just have to see." I smirked at him.

"Hn." He said.

---------------

"No way!" I shouted in Une's face. Wright was beside her, looking smug.

Everything was in an uproar. This Commander Wright was a real asshole. An arrogant bastard. I disliked him on first sight. He demanded insight into everything, he was worse than all the political dickheads, including Relena.

You heard me right, Relena Darlian-Peacecraft, was one of the better politicians. She, too, had grown up. Thank God her wardrobe wasn't dominated with pink anymore. Of course I knew that already. I'd seen her more than once on the news.

We had a hell of a time trying to hide the finished Gundam parts from them all. But when this Wright asshole demanded to be quartered in the Captain's cabin, I lost it.

"What's the matter with you? You yourself don't use it and it's fitting." Une demanded.

Shit. I avoided direct eye contact. "I'm still the captain and I say no," I sputtered. "He can bunk with his men...that's _fitting_. He may have command over the Preventers, and their operation, but I will _not_," I emphasized 'not' with a wild shake of my head, "give him access to that cabin. No one goes in there but me. End of story."

"Remember Une, our plan of action is to stay as a separate unit, apart of the Preventers," Quatre cut in, changing the topic to a more heated one. "We have always worked this way, and intend to do so now, as well. This includes Wufei."

Asshole Commander Wright sputtered, "That's not po...

"You can interrogate prisoners all by yourself later on." I said, still trying not to look directly at anyone. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. "You can arrest us later, if we break one of your precious inter-stellar laws. Like... say, plot a revolution."

He took the bait.

"Accepted. Commander Une warned me you five were a bunch of undisciplined fighters, no sense in the rules." He said arrogantly, looking at her.

Wufei bristled. "I wouldn't say that. We are very disciplined, and work very well together. We have proved that more than once, by defying entire armies." He leaned back and crossed his hands over his chest, chin in the air.

I looked covertly up to Trowa, and he nodded slightly. Good, my eyes were back to normal. I am the only one whose eyes change this dramatically, to violet when highly emotionally charged. The other pilot's eyes changed as well, but the color only got a little more intense, brighter than normal. Of course, I wasn't completely sure they might not change like mine do, I had yet to see any of them if a full fit of rage.

"We agree then. Only the Gundam pilots will be fighting in the first battle. Any backup will be provided by the Managacs." Quatre said firmly. "This means we use our own plan. You will be noticed, but we don't operate under your command. The Preventers still have to train with the unfamiliar mobile suits. The others on board have already done so and have an advantage on the Preventers."

Une nodded. "That is reasonable. Commander Wright, for this first battle we'll take that plan of action. The Preventers will sit this one out, except for Agent Chang."

Asshole Commander Wright was not happy to hear that, but he took his loss with grace. He straightened and got up. "Fine. So be it. Will someone show me to my quarters, then?"

Wufei also got up. "I'll show you the way."

Une sighed, as they had left the room. "You couldn't be any less diplomatic, could you?" She addressed us all, I noticed.

"What would you have us do?" Quatre asked her, "fight or play politicians? That reminds me, I have..."

I tuned them out as Heero touched my arm and asked, "Can I speak to you, in private?"

"Okay," I nodded and got a fluttering feeling in my belly at his intense look. I got up to leave, he followed at my heels. As we came into the hallway, I turned. "So, uhm, what did you want to talk to me about?"

He looked uncomfortable. We hadn't talked since that odd scene in the bar. "I...," he cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "I wanted to..."

"Heero!" A female voice interrupted him.

We both turned to the voice and I saw Relena coming in our direction, beaming.

"Relena," he said flatly, "What can I do for you?"

Well, shit.

-----------------

I sat in a suit and cackled. "Boom, you are dead."

It had been my turn to go out and train for real, in space. We each in turn took a group of pilots and simulated combat situations against the other group. The suits reaction was great. Smooth on the yokes and reaction time was excellent. Still, they weren't quite Gundams. I couldn't wait for Howard to finish them so I could sit in one for real, again.

"Take this," I shouted out, as I disabled another Maganac. I felt good, alive. They were good fighters, the Maganacs, but they lacked that special... well, I don't know what it was what made us so special, but they lacked it.

The next opponent coming my way was not so easily to defeat. Trowa. I gritted my teeth and spun my suit up and around to avoid being hit. That was close. I finished my maneuver, aimed and fired, missing by a mile. Trowa had dived under my shot and came up at me again. I engaged the thrusters, intending to get behind him, but there was a small explosion, and smoke filled the suit's cockpit. Shit. I coughed as I inhaled smoke and couldn't see a thing.

"Fuck, Tro, I've got problems," I coughed, while I closed the helm of my spacesuit.

"Duo?" He sounded curious. "What's the matter? Disengage your thrusters. You're speeding away."

"Would if I could," I coughed some more. I had tried the buttons to no avail. The thrusters worked on full power, and if I couldn't stop them, I'd be halfway across the solar system before the fuel ran out. Or out of breathable air. Which was more likely, with all the smoke in here. The seals of my flight suit apparently weren't tight, and I was getting smoke mixed in with my oxygen supply. "Fuck. There's been... an explosion... under the board. Can't see... a thing." I coughed between every word, getting very lightheaded.

"Close your suit." Trowa offered pointlessly.

"Thanks.. for the... tip. Suit's... scrap. Leaky. Shit, shit, shit." I ripped the helmet off, again, gasping for air. My eyes burned and were tearing up. I was running out of time. "Something's... not right, Tro. Shouldn't... be this much... smoke."

Frustrated, I began punching at the controls, but there was no reaction at all. "Too... much... smoke..." I ground out between clenched teeth. "Controls... dead..."

"Okay," he said. "Is there anything that's not dead?"

I shook my head, even though he couldn't see it, but I had to finish a coughing fit, first. "Negative." I ground out. I felt that I was on the verge of passing out.

"Can you kill the board?"

"Which... one?" I asked. If I hadn't been coughing so hard, I would have laughed. "Can't... even... see my... hands."

"Duo!" I heard Hero call out, as if through thick wool. I realized I was hearing his voice through the com. Tro must have initiated a conference.

"Huh 'Ro?" I managed just so. My airways were burning and little white flecks danced in my eyesight.

He sounded frantic. Heero, frantic? "We've to get..."

I heard nothing more, because my world went black.

---------------------

tbc

Thank you for reading and revieving. The next chapters will take longer to update, they aren't done, yet. So, please be patient.... 


	7. Sariel

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: at Dacia's:  
Pairing: 1x2, 43 (eventually)  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them, used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.  
  
Notes: Several years after the wars, the pilots have grown apart. When they meet again under unusual circumstances and an impending new war, will they be able to fight again, together?

Many thanks for Ellimaru' and Sakusha's help. Without it, I wouldn't have dared.

****

**Future of the Past - # 7 Sariel**

**(Command of God)** Working along side of Raguel, this seraph is given  
the role of deciding the fate of angels which stray from God's path. He  
is also credited as being an angel of knowledge, as an angel of death,  
and one of the leaders in Heaven's armies, his name being written upon  
the shields of one of the fighting forces

-------------

At first, there were only voices.

"... too long already."

"... should have been dead." Sally.

"...sure there isn't any brain damage?" Heero.

I slowly surfaced to consciousness, listening to the sounds around me. Where was I?

"There was minor damage, but evidently... the scans show somehow... it seems to have repaired itself." Sally, again.

Gradually, I became more aware. I felt burning pain at each breath I was forced to take. A breathing tube.

"We'll have to wait and see." Sally.

It all started to come back to me.

_Battle. _

_Space. _

_Accident. _

_Explosion in the cockpit. _

_Smoke. _

My fingers twitched, unconsciously trying to grab at controls that were no longer there.

"He moved." Heero.

"Muscle spasms." Sally.

_Too much smoke. Not normal, impossible. Flight suit not closed airtight. It was, when I checked last. I furrowed my brows. Something wasn't right. _

"No." Heero's voice, again. "Look, he moved." Fingers on my forehead, gentle fingers. "He's waking up. Duo? You hear me? Open your eyes, Duo."

I choked on the tube. Panicked. It had to come out. Now.

"Calm down, Duo. Relax. You are in medical." Heero voice persuaded me. Fingers continued to lightly stroke my face. "Breathe with the flow. It helps you. Calm."

I gave up resistance, slowly opening my eyes. I blinked furiously at the light. There was a face above me. Heero. It took me another minute before I could focus on that face. He looked horrible. He had dark shadows under red-rimmed eyes, and he needed to shave. Badly.

A bright light shone in one of my eyes and as I averted my head, annoyed. The gentle fingers on my forehead were snatched away. I frowned. I wanted those fingers back, it had felt... nice.

"Duo. Look at me." Sally leaned over me. "Do you know where you are?"

I nodded, once.

"Do you remember what happened?"

I nodded, again.

"I'm going to remove the breathing support."

I took a deep breath on my own as the thing came out of me and promptly had a coughing fit. My throat hurt. It hurt to breathe. "Water," I managed, hoarsely. Heero reached over, got me a cup, and held it to my lips. I took a few careful sips and the cool liquid soothed my throat.

"How?" I managed afterwards.

"Your mobile suit malfunctioned." Heero said.

I rolled my eyes. "No shit," I croaked. "How'd you get me out?"

"You ejected the cockpit from the suit. Trowa picked it up and brought it back to Bethor."

"I don't remember doing that." I rasp and furrowed my brow, tried to remember and came up blank.

Heero shrugged, expression painful. "We did CPR in the hangar. You weren't breathing."

"Actually," Sally said, "You were flat lining as you arrived in medical. I revived you. But, your brain was without oxygen long enough to cause brain damage."

I looked up at her, alarmed. "What?"

"You should be dead. A babbling idiot, at least." She shook her head, "not that you weren't already," she continued teasingly.

"The alteration?" I asked scratchily, aghast, skipping the insult.

"I think so." She was earnest again. "I didn't think you'd make it. Under normal circumstances, you'd be comatose; a constant-care patient, depending on life support. But..." she trailed off. "It took your body six days to repair the damage, with medical support. You really are hard to kill."

"Six days?" That was amazing. To come back from the dead, literally.

I tilted my head back to look at Heero. "So," I rasped, "something happened to you, too? You look like hell."

He averted his eyes, embarrassed.

"No," Sally said, "the idiot hardly left your side. It took two of your gang to convince him to go to sleep, once in a while. They took turns, watching you."

"Oh." I blinked. That was... surprisingly nice. "The suit?"

"The suit is lost." Heero said.

"Enough, now." Sally interrupted us. "I'd like to make a few tests on our patient, here. Go to sleep, Heero." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "He'll be fine, now. You can talk later."

He nodded, reluctantly got up from his chair at my bedside and hesitated, his hand reaching out to mine, laying on the sheet. But, before he could touch me, he snatched his hand back, turned abruptly and left the room.

I stared after him until Sally cleared her throat. I looked up, wide-eyed, and she smirked at me. "He really was worried, you know?"

"Uh-huh," was all I could manage.

"So, you up for a few tests?"

I groaned.

------------------

"I'm feeling paranoid." I complained, huffing. "He's avoiding me. I know it." I sat with Quatre on the bridge. We were going over the last fine-tuning in our plans. "Every time I go somewhere, Heero was there a few moments before, but he's gone when I get there."

"He's busy," Quatre said. "He and Trowa simulated your accident. Ripped a suit apart. Put it back together. Tried, simulating the explosion. Won't do if it happens again, with someone else."

I shook my head. "It won't."

He sighed. "You think it was no accident."

"It wasn't." I shook my head, vehemently. "Look, I checked the seals of my flight suit before we went out. They were tight. The seals disintegrated afterwards, as if the smoke did something to them. It wasn't normal smoke. I passed out faster than I should have. And there was too much smoke all at once, for it to be only a few circuits. There should have been sparks, before all of that. Something to indicate a minor malfunction."

Quatre shook his head. "There's no proof..."

"Only because the suit is gone. And what about that accident in the machine room the other day?" I continued. "None of the parts have ever fallen out of the overhead haul before. I just have to thank my speed that I was able to jump out of the way in time."

"The chain link was exhausted."

"You bet," I said. "No one else is this accident prone. Someone wants to kill me, Quat."

"Who would have a motive, a reason?" He looked at me. "The personnel Howard brought with him was hand picked. The Maganacs wouldn't do such a thing, and the Preventers are all trustworthy as well. Where is the motive?"

"Maybe they want me out of the way so that they can steal the ship. Une said it herself, 'it's a threat to peace'. If they want it badly enough..."

Quatre shook his head. "She is vehement, but if she wanted it, she would take a more direct approach. She has means."

"A mole within Preventers? Someone working for an organization, undermining the laws? Someone who wants... power?" I spoke my thoughts out loud.

"We can't exclude that, if you are right. But then, you can't exclude one of the sweepers, either." He folded his hands in front of him.

"Or one of the Maganacs." I amended.

He looked slightly offended at that, but nodded, finally. "If your suspicion is right." He looked me in the eye and continued, "But then, if there really are attempts on your life, it could be anyone on this ship. It could be one of us, too."

I blinked at his conclusion, stunned. "Shit, Quat. Don't say that."

He shrugged. "Do we really know each other anymore? Did we ever?"

I opened and closed my mouth a few times. "No. It's not one of you. I trust you. We may not really know each other that well, but we've been through enough shit that I know none of you would ever turn traitor." I smirked, "Besides, Bethor would have detected it, if one of you were a traitor."

He raised an eyebrow, "You sure?"

I nodded firmly, without hesitation. "Yeah. I am."

"Good," he leaned back and smiled slightly. "I was afraid our... unusual handling of the situation a few weeks ago had destroyed that trust. You've been distant. I'm still sorry about that. We should have trusted you in the first place."

I grimaced as I remembered the 'test' they had put me through. Reaching for my braid, I tugged, sad suddenly. "Yeah."

"Okay." He took a deep breath, "Assuming your theory is correct, then you should be shadowed by one of us. Maybe... Heero should bunk with you."

I barked out a laugh. "He's beenavoiding me the last several days and now you suggest that he bunks with me?"

Rooming with Heero would be... uncomforatable. How could I possibly sleep in the same room with the man I lusted during my hand sessions? I shuddered. "Besides, I think he's... uncomfortable with my, uhm, sexual orientation, I think. He reacted... strangely the other day as I, uhm, I'm bi, you know? And he's straight. He wants a girl, he told me."

Quatre looked amused. "He told you that?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

He raised his eyebrows, still looking amused. "Really."

"Uh-huh. Maybe not in so many words, but, yes, he did."

"I see." Quatre looked at his hands. "Heero isn't straight. He's bi, too, at the very least."

I looked at him, agast. "What?"

"Wufei's too, bi, I mean. Trowa and I are gay."

I closed my open mouth with a snap. "Oh."

"You know that gay, or bisexual, people have an gene, that distinguishes them from straight people? You've heard about the medical studies made, back in the nineties?"

I nodded, still stunned.

"We all have it." He looked up, smiling. "So, Heero is, at least, bisexual, too, if not gay."

"But Heero..." I trailed off.

"You sure he told you he wants a girl?"

I looked off in the distance, recalling the conversation we had in the cantina. "I thought... because of Relena..." I blinked, thinking hard. "He looked... put off, as I told him I... never was with Hilde..." Fuck. He had flirted with me. Sat at my side, as I was comatose. And I had been so blind. "Heero... oh, shit."

Quatre looked smug.

"You knew!" I accused him. "You knew, and didn't tell me..."

"It is not my place to tell what is told in confidence," he said, earnestly. "And I didn't tell you anything now. It's all your own conclusion." He paused a moment as if thinking over his next words. "But," He said slowly, "I won't stand by and see you toy with his feelings. If you're out just for fun..."

"I wouldn't..." I bristled, and trailed off. "Trowa told you about the other day, at the bar?"

He nodded.

I got up. "I have to think, Quat. This is... I don't know what..." I shook my head and fled the room.

--------------------

It was my turn to avoid Heero. I was nervous. The rest of the day cycle I latched onto Wufei or Trowa, to avoid being alone. I tried not to think about my conversation with Quatre. But, I couldn't help it. It was all I thought about.

Heero finally turned up on my doorstep, duffel in hand, looking uncertain. I waved him in and turned on my heel with a murmured excuse, fleeing to my Ezgadi.

Here I felt safe. Safe from any attempts of my life, safe from... Heero. I stretched out on my bed. I was confused. If Heero really wanted me, why hadn't he said so already? He knew I was bi. I'd told him. Maybe he was afraid of rejection. Afraid of having his feelings stomped on. He loved someone. Love. Did he love me? Was he in love with... me?

I groaned, as it came to me what an impression my past behavior must have had on him. It sure didn't look as if I was capable of an earnest commitment. Like the one Quatre and Trowa had. But was I? Was I able to? I sure wanted Heero, lusted after him. That I already had established for myself. Without any question.

I remembered times in the past, when I tried to get in touch with him, with the others. The worst of my disappointment had been from Heero's choice to ignore me. Okay, I was disappointed by the lack of response from the others, too, but from Heero... it had hurt.

And then... later, somehow I had been dull, indifferent to relationships. I never even tried for such a thing with anyone else. Just... one-night-stands. I rubbed my hands over my face. Had I had feelings for Heero back then, already?

Yes. If I was true to myself, I had. I'd buried them deep, but... was it more than just attraction? Could I picture Heero on my side, as more than a friend? For more than just sex?

I recalled the feeling of wrongness when I had kissed Steve in the bar. How easy it had been to turn him down, despite my libido. I was absolutely uninterested in looking for other partners among the bunch of males and females on this ship. I was... hooked.

Did I know, for sure, it was me Heero was after? Quatre had seemed to indicate that. But, could I be sure? No. What if I discovered I was in love with Heero Yuy and it turned out it all was a big misunderstanding? It would break my heart again. Again? I flung my arm over my head. Yeah. If I was honest with myself, again. What did that mean? Was I in love with Heero?

I huffed. This was ridiculous. Here I am pondering my non-existing love life, and very shortly the Earth is going to be invaded by aliens, which we are going to have to fight. We all could die. I could be gone, even if we survived. Vanish. Cease to exist. Because... because my parents were from the future.

What would Heero do, if I ceased to exist? He would be sad, certainly. As would the others. What would he do, if I started something now, something more than friendship? What would I do, if he ceased to exist?

I... would be crushedBut I wouldfeel like that anyway if something happened to him right now. And later, if he was gone, I would curse myself for not grabbing a chance to be with him. I sighed.

Okay. We'd have to talk. At least that. Now. I got up and slipped into my clothes again, attempting to leave Ezgadi and have a little chat with Heero, as just then my com pinged.

"What?" I said gruffly.

"Duo?" Howard asked. "We're ready. Engines are ready to go. Want to make a test ride?"

"Now?" I asked, annoyed.

"What better time?" He answered. "You've anything else planned?"

I shook my head, then nodded. "Maybe."

"Then postpone it. Meet us at the bridge, now."

"Hey," I pouted, "Aren't I the one supposed to give the orders?"

"Aye, Captain," he chuckled. "Regarding your orders...as soon as we are ready, we make a test run. That's now."

"Okay," I huffed, "you win. I'll be on my way over."

That chat with Heero will just have to wait.

---------------

Sitting in my chair, I overlooked the bridge. It was crowded. The nine stations were each manned, and the bridge hummed with life. We were ready. I gave the command, and we watched the screen as Jupiter got smaller. Bethor was in motion, again. There was cheering heard over the speakers as we picked up speed. They'd done a good job with the repairs, the techs. I was proud.

We set course to Saturn. The plan was to circle Saturn in a wide ellipse and then settle in a course circling around Earth, at halfway distance between it and Mars. Bethor recommended it as the best route to detect and intercept the Xetoins when they enter our solar system. No one knew where they were going to appear.

The star ship, Bethor, was as fast as its shuttles. It was astonishing. I stared at the screens, projecting space, tactical star maps, astrometry data, ship structure data and felt... depressed. One more step in direction of fighting, of a war. Looking around, I wondered which of the crew here would lose their lives.

I stared at the back of Commander Wright's head. He was standing in the middle of the bridge in a military stance, feet shoulder width apart, hands crossed at the small of his back, eyes trained on the screens. I could practically feel the greed for power radiating off of him. He was so eager to command the ship. I certainly wasn't opposed to him being one of the first ones to die. But Commanders, sadly, usually sat back behind the line of fire.

He obviously wanted me gone, so he could take over completely. But would he fall back on means like murder? Even if it seemed to be an accident, now that I had expressed my suspicion, I doubted the other four would let it go by without an investigation.

I looked over to Rashid. He, like the other Maganacs, would do nothing against Quatre's will. So, if it came from them, it had to be Quatre. No. I could exclude them, they were loyal to the bone.

Then there were the sweeper's techs and pilots. They were true to Howard and me, I used to believe. They had no motive. I really didn't want to go there.

The Preventers were still my main suspects. They had a motive. Or one of the dickheads from the government. It was possible that they had a spy here, among the people. Or more than one. I shuddered at the thought.

To find out, we had only to implant all of them with a com unit, and let Bethor dig in their thoughts. But I didn't want to. It would reveal Bethor's real ability to them. It was bad enough that they saw the ship as such a threat. More of this futuristic shit would stir unforeseeable reactions among them, and their superiors. Until now, only the five of us, with Sally and Howard, were connected directly with the ship. The rest of them used regular com units, if they needed them.

It was between giving Bethor's secrets to God knows who, and hope that they don't try to take the ship right then and there or find the one who is out to get me, without the ships help. Bethor was essential to the survival of Earth's population. I wasn't.

Someone pinged me and I activated my com.

'Unauthorized entry in freight area two.' Bethor whispered in my mind.

I looked to Howard, startled. He, too, had gotten the message, it seemed. He looked at me, frowning. Freight area two had been remodeled for building the Gundams. We had made it look like it only housed mobile suit parts. Crates and mounds of unidentified metals. The Gundams were not yet assembled.

Nonetheless, entry was only authorized with any of us five or Howard accompanying. I jerked my head in direction of the door, and he got up, heading out, while I pinged Trowa, informing him to follow as backup. I watched as he quitely nodded to his console, while keying in a few commands.

I stood and stretched. "Well, I'm outta here. Holler, if there're any problems." I announced to the room in general, while I casually left the bridge. Once the door closed behind me, I broke into a run down the hallway to freight area two.

"Bethor, identify unauthorized intruders." I ordered while running.

"Print profile used indicates tech Kayla Manson. One person." It answered.

I shook my head. Kayla had been on the bridge with us. "Negative, Kayla is on the bridge." I caught up with Howard and grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Someone used Kayla's handprint to mask his entry. Its not a mistake. I go in alone... I don't want you to get hurt. Wait for Tro." I told him. He opened his mouth to protest, but I silenced him with a raised eyebrow, tightening my grip on his arm.

"Okay," he said, "be careful."

I nodded and continued down the hall, stopping at the door. "Bethor, is the intruder still inside?" I asked the AI.

'Affirmative' Bethor answered.

I palmed the pad and the door slid open with a swish. I grimaced. The sound was overtly noticeable in this big, hollow area. I dove through the door and took cover behind one of the crates.

"Hey, buddy," I called out, "I don't think you should be in here." I peeked around the corner and saw... parts and crates. This was going to be hide and seek.

"Oh, come on, you're cornered. No way to get outta here. Give it up." I stuck my head out and a bullet flew past my ear. Shit. I jerked back and, keeping low, crept around the parts and crates in the direction the shot had come from. It was about time Trowa showed up here.

I heard a metallic sound and peeked around the corner. There. A dark figure in full flight suit and helmet. He stood at the control pad for the outer freight doors. He wanted to space me. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Frantic, I looked around. I was midway between him and the door to safety. No way I could make it back in time.

'Bethor,' I thought frantically. I lunged forward, to another crate, trying to stop that dark figure from opening the outer doors. 'Lock down freight area two.'

'Manual controls overriding system functions' Bethor answered.

Shit. Shitshitshit. 'Activate magnetic lock down.' I thought, as I made a leap to cover the last part of the distance to him. At least try to save the Gundam parts from being spaced. It was like slow motion. As I was airborne, he turned, leveled his gun at me and palmed the control to open the outer freight doors with his other hand.

I heard a shot and felt the impact of the bullet in my right shoulder. Searing pain shot through me, and I heard the freight doors slide open, accompanied by a whirl of air and flying non-metal things. I was about being pulled out into the vast darkness. I clawed at everything solid coming in my reach, but the draw was too strong.

'Emergency protocol,' I thought frantically, 'seal hull break. Energy shields.' I heard alarms shrilling. Or was it my imagination and I heard just the blood roar in my ears? It felt as if my insides wanted to break through the pores in my skin and my brain wanted to crawl out of my ears and eyes at the pressure. I took a few painful hits from flying objects. And then, it was over.

The pressure was gone. The air was thin, but quiet. I lay on the floor, not five feet from the open freight doors, and stared out into space, gulping for air. My ears rang and there where white flecks dancing before my eyes. Bethor had erected a shield in front of the hangar opening. Great. I was ready to pass out, again.

"Duo!" Trowa came sprinting in my direction and knelt down beside me, putting pressure on my wound. It hurt. "We couldn't get in. The door was sealed."

"No," I gasped, "he's still..."

A shout came from the direction of the door and we turned our heads. We saw the intruder wrestling with Howard. But the old man was no match for the intruder. He went down, and the figure vanished. I groaned. Trowa looked pained.

--------------

"Three strikes." I was mad. I was in medical. Again. "He's out."

"We have to file a report," Wufei said. "There will be an investigation. You can't do it on your own."

"Why not?" I replied, sullenly. "It's my ship. A Captain has the right to judge over the crimes done on board his ship."

"You are a civilian." He said. "Commander Wright..."

I groaned. "Oh, please. Stop it."

He shook his head. "He is the one in command, by law. It is the first open attempt on your life. And, in Wright's opinion your suspicions about the other... accidents are just that, Maxwell. Suspicions."

I shook my head. "He's only getting bolder, Fei. You know I'm not making this up."

He sighed. "We know that, Maxwell. But we have a trail now. This man, he had knowledge about the freight area. He picked it on purpose, faked a handprint. Maybe he knows about the gundams. He knows you. He wanted you, personally, to show up there. To kill you. This minimizes the amount of people we can suspect." He shook his head. "But I'm still at a loss about the motive. Why he wants you out of the way. What for?"

I mulled that over. Not one of the Preventers or government representatives should know about that. That means it was one of the few sweepers or Maganacs. One of those we trusted. "Well, shit."

"And," he lectured me, "we can't do anything overt, now, if Commander Wright knows about the attempted murder."

"It was hard to cover up, with the ship wide alarms, and you all rushing to my aid with him in the midst of it." I pursed my lips. "How are we going to set up a trap? Preventer guards are going to follow me anywhere?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't know, yet. Quatre is plotting it out."

I nodded and there was silence. "Uh, so, where's Heero?" I hadn't seen him since I had let him stand in the middle of my quarters, fleeing to my Ezgadi. I was a little... disappointed about that.

Wufei's lips curled in a little smile, looking at something only he could see. "Plotting."

"Him, too?" I asked.

"Hn," Wufei hummed affirmative. "They have their heads stuck together. Heero's in full mission mode."

I grinned. "In spandex and tank top?"

Wufei looked startled. "What? No, he's clad in jeans and t-shirt, I think."

I shook with aloud laughter. "Ow, shit." That was so not a good idea. "Man, it was a joke." I chuckled.

He scowled.

"Y'know, you have to loosen up a bit, Fei, man." I shifted to a more comfortable position. "I'm tired of being a guinea pig of our advanced healing abilities for Sally. How about somebody else taking over for a while? Someone like... you?"

"You do it very well. No need to change." He smirked.

"Thanks." I grimaced. "It's really amazing. Sally said the wound should heal by tomorrow. Three days for a bullet hole. If she weren't so greedy to look at it every hour or so, I'd be outta here, today."

"She needs to monitor the process closely."

"Joy." I winked at him. "I'd say she'd rather be closely monitoring you."

He... blushed, face unreadable.

"Fei?" I smirked at him. "Ah, don't you deny it. Do I notice something... developing?"

"That's none of your concern, Maxwell," he said, gruffly, getting to his feet. "Besides, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." He shot that over his shoulder as he exited medical.

I shut up, frowning after him.

----------------

Commander Wright, it turned out, wasn't the brightest with investigations. I didn't want to know how he made it to his post. Maybe he had other qualities, but then, they had yet to show up. Eager to have something important to do, he had attached himself to the case and caused nothing but confusion. His men were frustrated. The rest of us were sarcastically amused.

I was shadowed by a Preventer 24/7. Okay, they didn't bunk with me, but it put a dampener on my mood to pursue things with Heero. He was... closed up, distanced. There was next to no progress in revealing the killer, and it seemed to bug him. Okay, it bugged me, too. And the others.

It was obvious that there would be no more attempts, as long as I had an agent tailing me. I started to get in a foul mood and very short tempered. I shouted at Kayla for no good reason, and she broke out in tears, yelling back at me. I tossed a plate of food across the cantina, because there was no mustard on the table. I accused Howard of sabotaging the progress with the Gundams. And, I insulted one of the diplomats.

"Gah!" I shouted, standing in front of the big observation screen. I was itching to do something really, really stupid. Like killing my momentary guard. It was extremely frustrating. I felt like I was in prison. Never before in my life had I been guarded so tight. Not even while in an OZ prison.

"Quatre, progress?" I asked impatiently for the umpteenth time over the com.

"Yeah." He answered. "He's okay with our plan, finally."

After it was close to three weeks, with no progress. This last one, with Quatre and Heero trying to persuade Commander Wright into letting Wufei and Heero take over guarding me, so that I could act as bait.

Not that I couldn't have evaded the lot of them, if I had really wanted too. But I was a good little citizen and tried to be a good boy. 'Tried to' was the main factor. I felt my control slipping. I felt trapped. It did no good that my senses, sharpened by my unusual upbringing, considered this as the worst possible scenario. Being trapped.

I shuddered. "About time."

"Uh-huh." Quat responded.

"So," I asked, "Am I free to perform my escaping act now?"

"As soon as you are ready."

I grinned. I was ready three weeks ago. "'Kay, Quat. Tell Heero and Wufei to meet me on Ezgadi after our stops." I turned slowly and gave my guard a lopsided grin. "We're going to your Commander. I've had enough of you. Nothing's happened, nothing will. The moron only wanted to space spare parts. I just was at the wrong place, at the wrong time."

The guard nodded and shifted in his stance as I rushed past him. Most of the agents were ofthe same opinion. Maybe that was a one of the reasons the investigation had been so lax. Or, maybe they just didn't like me.

I stalked down the hallways, ranting loudly about the 'imprisonment' without reason and the 'wrong time, wrong place' thing if we met people, and that it was time I was released from confinement, until we reached the commander's 'office'. He had confiscated one of the cabins as command center. I entered without knocking first and he looked up from his desk, offended, butIwas the Captain. I do not knock at his door.

"You know your story?" I asked him.

He bristled. "Of course. You pouted and went bunking on your ship."

I nodded to the commander. "That'll do."

Okay. I wouldn't call it 'pouting', but it would do, indeed. The story would spread, and the assassin would come to me, like a moth to the light. I intended to end it. We had little time left, and I was eager to go out and pilot my new Deathscythe Hell. Howard and his techs had preformed a miracle by completing the suits.

Trowa and Wufei had been out already with their Gundams. They were beaming. Okay, maybe it was a little exaggerated to say that, but Trowa had a new spring in his step and his head held up just so, and Wufei radiated contentment. I wanted that, too. I felt I had earned it after three weeks of having my movements restrained.

He cleared his throat, interrupting the silence. "You won't kill him. We need an interrogation. Maybe there are organizations..."

"Yeah," I drawled. "We've thought of that."

He nodded, mute.

I decided I had been in here long enough for a 'heated discussion' and opened the doors to the room again, waving the guard in. I grinned at my ex-guard, as the Commander informed him of his release of duty, and sauntered out, feeling freed.

God. I took a deep breath and wandered first in the cantina, where Wufei sat, drinking a tea, to announce loudly the end of my 'imprisonment'. I went to the bar. Heero stood there, leaning against the counter, nursing a beer of his own. I hesitated. I hadn't really spoken to him, despite us bunking in a quarter together, since I had decided to take things to a new level. Okay, since I had decided we needed to talk. I donned a grin and sauntered over to him, snatching the bottle from his hand. "Hey."

"Get your own." He said, gruffily.

The grin froze on my face. The scene reminded me of another evening. Only, then I had grabbed the beer from another person. "Okay," I said, slowly, vividly having the scene replayed in my head when he had stood in the middle of the bar, his hands balled to fists and that... expression on his face. "Sure." I held the bottle back to him and he took it back, never meeting my gaze. I frowned.

"Here, pal." A hand clapped me on the back and another, still unopened, bottle appeared in front of my face.

I turned my head, face still frozen in that smile, and saw one of the sweepers. "Hi, Ben. Thanks." Taking the bottle I twisted the cap and took a few deep swallows.

"You all by yourself again? Got rid of your shadows?" he teased me.

"Yep," I answered, forcing a cheerfull facade. "I convinced the Commander that one of you drunken morons wanted to make a prank by spacing our spare parts, while playing with a gun, you assholes. Would have been a bitch to collect them back, though."

He grinned at that, but shook his head. "A bad prank. Even drunk."

I shrugged. "Yeah. Care to tell me who it was? I'll skin his hide and let him drift in space for a week locked in a suit."

He laughed out loud. "Would if I could, believe me."

"Thought so." I made a face at him, emptied the bottle and slammed it on the counter. "I've had enough of you all. I'll bunk in my ship. See you."

I waved to the air as I made my exit and took a deep breath as I strode through the hallways on my way to the hangar. Wufei should be there already. I pinged him.

"02?" he asked.

"On my way. Incoming in about three minutes."

"Roger." He confirmed.

I grinned to myself. We were on a mission. As I entered my ship, I found the barrel of an automatic stuck in my face. "That's only two minutes," he said, holding his gun away.

"Yeah. Sorry about that, dude." I made a fake apologetic face.

He shook his head. "Don't mock me, 02."

I steered him to Ezgadi's galley and ordered a tea for him from the replicator. "So, news got around?"

"Like a brushfire," he said.

"Good." I took a sip of my soda. I shouldn't have downed that beer that fast. "I'll have a sandwich, you want anything?"

He shook his head. "Not before 01 is here." We had decided that I would play sitting duck in my ship, with the two of them there to guard me. One of them out in the hangar, one here inside with me. Quatre and Trowa would switch shifts with them in six hours.

He suddenly stood up. "Roger, 01."

I frowned. Why had Heero not contacted me, or even both of us? "Heero's here?"

He nodded absently and went to the door, watching the open hatch, hand on his gun. There was a rap on the hull and Heero stuck his head in. "I'll take position outside. Switch with me in three."

"Roger." Wufei answered and Heero vanished from sight.

I blinked. He hadn't even acknowledged me. My stomach began to flutter in my belly and my throat went tight. What was that? I swallowed, hard. My appetite was gone all of a sudden, and I slowly sat the rest of the sandwich down.

Wufei did a double take. "You alright?"

I looked up at him, blinking. "I'm fine. Why?" I murmured.

"You went pale all of the sudden."

I took a few deep breaths. Why had I been so thrown off by Heero's behavior? Not long before, he had been warm and friendly torwards me.

The Heero I saw just a moment ago had been the old Heero. A chill ran down my spine. I shuddered. Had it all been my imagination, that he was attracted to me?

I got up. "I'm... going to my cabin, Fei. You're right, I'm... not feeling so well." Ignoring his puzzled face, I stepped out of the galley and into my cabin. Falling down on my bed, I flung an arm over my face. Shit.

What had happened? Heero was acting like he had in the past, when he botched a mission and was determined to make it all better by giving his best in order to protect. But he had it all wrong. Nothing had been botched, yet. We hadn't even gotten that far yet. I thought hard about it. Everything had been smooth. The only thing that had happened was the attempted...

I licked my suddenly dry lips. I had been hurt, twice, and he hadn't been there, both times. I groaned as an imaginary light bulb lit up. Both times, it had been Trowa who... not Heero. If, and the emphasis was on if, he was really in lo... attracted to me, he would feel as if he had failed me. And that would trigger determination. Protect from a distance. As he did now. I felt like blowing something up. Something huge.

But, what if I was wrong? If he was not attracted to me, he would still do his duty to protect me. God, but it was tearing me up.

My thoughts turned to my ship. I was the one Bethor had declared as its last crew member, therefore Bethor was obeying me. What would Bethor do if I was dead? It would... well, hell. Why speculate?

"Bethor," I said, "would you attempt to finish your mission if I should die?"

'Positive.' The AI answered.

"Why is that?"

'You presented individuals able to take over the mission from you.'

I smiled at that. "Yeah. I did, didn't I? The mighty Gundam pilots. Nobody's going to fuck us."

'That statement meets not my recently analyzed recordings. They are pointing to the contrary.'

I choked. "You are spying on Trowa and Quatre?"

'I monitor all body functions of individuals connected with me. Present data indicated no necessary medical interference needed, in spite increased heart rates and blood pressures of individuals Trowa Barton and Quatre Winner during interaction.'

I couldn't help it. I burst out in uncontrollable laugher. I rolled around on my bed, chortling. "Jesus," I gasped, as I was able to calm down a bit, "this is rich, Bethor." I was instantly in a better mood. "Just... don't let them or anyone else know you spied on them." I snickered helplessly. "They'd dismantle you and take you apart, bit by bit and byte by byte."

'Affirmative,' the AI replied.

Wufei stuck his head in my cabin. "Duo?"

I saw his questioning face and instantly burst into another fit of laughter. I shook my head helplessly. "You," I tried to calm down, "__really__ don't want to know," I ground out between chuckles. "Bethor..." I buried my face in my hands and took deep breaths, "just made a... joke." I had to snicker again. I looked up at him and grinned widely. "You wouldn't find it funny, trust me."

He shrugged and vanished again.

I sighed, still grinning. That interlude was just what I needed. I felt better. I didn't feel the need for explosives anymore. I stretched and decided to take a nap. And promptly fell asleep.

Wufei woke me by rapping on my door. "I'll switch with Heero, now."

I grunted, and decided to take a shower, since I had slept in my clothes. I got up, snatched a change of clothes and towel and went to the bathroom. I made a quick affair of it, sensitive of Heero's presence in Ezgadi.

Dressed, I walked back to my cabin. I was toweling my hair when I became aware of another person in my cabin. I lowered the towel and looked up, staring straight into the wrong end of a gun, trained at my head.

I froze and my gaze traveled along the barrel of the gun straight into a pair of familiar grey eyes. Where the hell was Heero?

----------------

tbc


	8. Remliel

Title: Future of the Past   
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )   
Archive: Dacia's site raygunworks .net   
Pairing: 1x2, 43   
Rating: R    
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi   
Spoilers: this takes place after EW   
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.   
Disclaimer: Don't own them, used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.

Notes: Several years after the wars, the pilots have grown apart. When they meet again under unusual circumstances and an impending new war, will they be able to fight again, together?

As before this wouldn't be out here if not for the betas Ellimaru and Sakusha, helping intensively in correcting. Thanks, girls!

**--------------------------**

**Future of the Past - #** **8** **Remliel**

**(Awakening)** Each of us has a different concept of what it means   
to be awakened. The essence of what we all seek is divine love and   
freedom from pain and suffering. Remliel is the angelic awakener   
whose goal is to bring you to Higher Power... consciousness and   
union with your Eternal self.

----------------

"What exactly is the meaning of this?" I asked, carefully, still frozen. I searched the gun with my eyes. The safety was off. Shit. I activated my com.

The grey eyes narrowed, and the barrel of the gun wavered a little. "What does it look like, huh?"

I pursed my lips. "It looks like you're making a mistake. A huge one, by the way." I had to keep him talking until someone showed up. Had he taken Heero down? Was that why he was standing here with a gun in my face? I hadn't heard a shot. Heero wouldn't have gone down easy. Had Heero been surprised? Taken out from behind? But... Wufei was outside, wasn't he? Nobody should have been able to get in here without passing him first. Where was Heero?

"Is that so?" He laughed, short and ugly.

"What's with the gun?" I tipped my head and let a small, feral smile graze my lips. A smile that promised pain and a slow, painful death.

He swallowed, but didn't back down. "I'm going to kill you." He sounded determined.

"That may very well be likely," I replied coldly. "But I'd like to know why." My mind raced. Industrial Espionage? I loosened the grip on the towel and shifted my stance slightly.

Heero appeared inside the doorway behind him. I forced myself not to let my eyes flick in Heero's direction, thankful that my would be killer stood facing me, the door just out of his field of vision. I narrowed my eyes. "C'mon, man, tell me. Who put the hit out on me?"

The barrel of the gun leveled a bit, but was still trained on me. "What?" He sounded confused.

I considered my options. The safety was off, the distance between us was too big for me to grab the barrel. I was fast. But was I fast enough to fling the towel at him, dodge, and disarm him before he could pull the trigger? I doubted it.

"Tell me why." I dropped my voice, sounding a bit husky. "Come on, man. I think I deserve that, at least."

His face changed into a hateful grimace. "_He_ can't have you," he hissed. "Nobody else can have you. We were perfect together. Why couldn't you see that?" His hands trembled, and the gun moved slightly to the right... that was all I needed.

I was surprised over his odd declaration, but instinct - or training - took over. Survival first, questions later.

I let the towel go from my left hand and hurled it at him with my right, while I dodged and grabbed the gun with my left. I pushed the barrel away from me, and twisted the gun out of his hand with a short flick of my wrist. At the same moment, Heero leaped in from behind him, and took him out with a short refined move.

I stared down at an unconscious Steve.

Looking up, I fixed my gaze on Heero and took a step forward. I was right in his face. "Where were _you_?" I shouted. "Why'd you let him in without patting him down first?"

He looked down at Steve, expression closed. "He's your lover," he said, voice flat.

I took a step back, stunned. I blinked. "He is _not_."

He made an incoherent sound at that.

I took a deep breath. "And what did ya think...that I'd invite someone in here while we have a sting going on? You'd think me _such_ an idiot, Yuy?"

"I thought..." he began in a low voice, and then trailed off. He looked up at me slowly, brows furrowed, with a vulnerable, lost look in his dark indigo eyes. "I... didn't think," he whispered. Wufei entered the room and Heero backed away from me, sidestepped him and fled the cabin altogether.

-----------------

"Maxwell!" Wufei's bark brought me back to myself from staring wide-eyed after Heero. "Care to explain what this is all about?"

"Uh," I blinked at him. "I... I don't..." I shook my head. "Wufei, you noticed someone coming in here, right?"

"Of course," he said gruffly.

I gnawed at my lower lip. "Did you... did you, too, think I would have..."

He shrugged. "There is gossip, Maxwell. We all heard about," he made a motion with his head to the unconscious bundle on the floor, "you two."

I nodded absently. "But, did'ya think that I..."

"No." He said, firm. "I am able to think rationally." He sighed and turned his head to the empty doorway. "You have to do something about this. Make up your mind. You two have been dancing around each other for so long that it's not funny anymore. Trowa is ready to smack you on the head. You have Quatre ranting on about you two being star-crossed not-lovers. _I'm_ about to smack you on the head," he turned back, smirking, "because Trowa rants to me about Quatre's ranting to him."

"Oh," I looked down, embarrassed. "It's nice to know everybody finds my love life so entertaining."

He snorted.

"Or lack of it," I amended, sighing.

"He won't come out and tell you." Wufei looked thoughtfully. "I think he's afraid."

I stared at him, flabbergasted. "Afraid? Heero?"

He nodded. "He's... I think he feels like he's not worthy."

"Jesus," I gaped, "not worthy? The savior of the world?"

"Look at what you have accomplished in your life, so far," Wufei crossed his arms in front of his chest, "and what he has. I can understand a little of what he feels. We do talk, you know? If you weren't so busy all the time, rushing from one end of the ship to the other, and sat down with us to really talk, you'd know. We all think you have done outstandingly well. We admire your success. Even Quatre. Nobody's helped you. You've done it all by yourself, from scratch no less."

I shook my head. "No, you have it wrong," I protested, "that was all Bethor. He planted all those ideas in my head."

"And Bethor told you what to do with these... ideas?"

"No, but..." I trailed off.

"Helped you to realize these... ideas?"

"No, but..."

"Gave you money, told you to be a good person? A good friend? To help others? Be a selfless jerk? Raised you to be all that?"

I held up a hand. "I'm not a selfless jerk."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay. You win. I won't fight with you, although..."

A groan caught our attention. I had all forgotten about Steve. I looked down.

"First things first." Wufei snatched a pair of cuffs from his belt and bent down, securing our target's wrists.

---------------

After securing Steve, Wufei had hauled him away, satisfied to have this case closed. I met up with him afterwards in the Commander's 'office' and we gave our report.

Wright leaned back in his chair. "So, it's a past lover thing, jealousy?"

I winced at that. "I wouldn't say lover."

He just looked at me.

"No, really," I protested. "We've been together a few times, alright, but 'lover'?" I shook my head. "That's not what it was. Just..." I searched for the right word, without sounding too sluttish.

"...Fuck-buddies." Wufei offered, studying the corner of the room, as if there were something interesting to see.

I blushed and shot him a look. "Gee, thanks, bud."

"Welcome." He replied dryly.

"Obviously," the Commander said, looking meaningfully at me, "that's not how he interpreted your... situation."

I sighed. "He knew. He wasn't the... only one." I ducked my head. Somehow, I was extremely uncomfortable discussing my sex-life with Asshole Commander Wright, especially with Wufei right there.

"But, have you ever turned him down before?" Wufei asked. "He obviously snapped after that."

I shook my head, silent. Who'da thought friendly, outgoing Steve would turn out to be this... possessive.

"Well," the Commander said, "Agent Chang, I'll await your written report tomorrow morning. While the prisoner, Mr. ...

"McKarmedy." I offered.

"...right, Mr. McKarmedy, remains in his cell until the next shuttle goes to Earth. He'll have his trial there. Dismissed."

We left the room and Wufei turned down the hallway, going to who knows where without looking back. I shrugged after him. I had to find Heero.

------------------

I found him in the observation deck.

He sat on the sill of one of the large windows, looking out at the stars, one leg drawn up to his chest, the other steadying himself. I stopped in the door. The sight reminded me of a time on Peacemillion, when he had sat in the exact same position, shortly before the end of the first war.

I crossed the room to stand by him. "I'm sorry," I said quietly.

He turned his head to me with a pained look in his eyes. They still shone with a brilliant, indigo blue. It took my breath away.

"What for?" He asked slowly. "I've let you down. Again." He averted his eyes, and turned his head, to stare out at space once more.

"For yelling at you." I grabbed my braid and nervously played with the tuft. "I've been an asshole. I wanted to talk to you, since... a few weeks, actually, y'know?" I took a deep breath. "I've..." I shook my head and decided on another approach. "Have you thought about what might happen if we're successful against the Xetoins?"

He shrugged. "We go back to Earth."

"Happen to me, I mean."

He tilted his head so I could see his profile, brows furrowed. "What would happen to you?"

I sighed, and touched his shoulder. "Look. Bethor comes from our future. So did my parents."

He nodded.

"When," I paused, to swallow. It was hard to voice my fears out loud. I forced a grin. "If we're successful, and we beat the Xetoins, there will no longer be a need to send anyone back in time. Bethor will stay in the future, its crew will stay in the future... and I will have never been born here, in 179."

Heero whirled his head around to look at me, his expression horrified. "What..." he trailed off, swallowing, "You're serious?"

I nodded. "I'm not sure, but it's a possibility. Once the thread is eliminated...I may not exist...here." I snapped my fingers. "Poof, gone. Bethor, too." I shrugged. "Maybe... maybe you all won't even remember me." I tightened my grip on his shoulder.

He stared at me, eyes glittering suddenly. "No," he choked out, barely audible. Then he twisted his upper body, and flung his arms around my waist, buried his face in my chest.

He was trembling.

I laid my arms around his shoulders and stared out into space over his head. It hurt. The thought of not being here anymore, never seeing him again, was painful. A wrenching sort of pain. I felt as if my stomach would shrink into itself and my heart was being ripped out at the same time. And I knew, now, for sure. I took a deep, shuddering breath. I knew, without doubt, that I was in love with Heero Yuy. Deeply and truly. "I just..." I trailed off and tried again. "Nothing's written in stone..." my voice wavered. I cleared my throat and whispered, "Just... you've got to consider it, 'Ro."

He shook his head against my chest, still trembling.

"Y'know," I raised a hand, noticing that I was trembling too, and let it glide through his dark mane, exhaling heavily. "I've lost... all the people I truly... loved. They all... died." I squeezed my eyes shut, "I... I don't... want you dying too. Promise me."

He became very still in my arms. Rigid.

I could barely speak, but it needed to be said, "... I wanted to spare you... from that sort of pain." I took a deep breath, "But... it would be too late for that, am I right?"

He took a deep breath and it rattled in his chest. Or was it a groan? His arms tightened around my waist and he let his upraised leg fall down to the floor, shifted around, so that I stood between his legs. I cradled him in my arms. He spread his hands and they slowly slid to the small of my back, then upwards further, until they were on my shoulders. He leaned back slightly, so that he could tilt his head up to look at me.

He had this raw expression on his face. His eyes shone with that enhanced, otherworldly look. A brilliant indigo blue, shining with moisture in the lights. "Yes," he whispered, "way too late."

Then he tugged me down to him, our lips touching, tentatively. It was a shy kiss, just a ghostly touching of lips, so gentle. It was a perfect first kiss – tender and respectful, practically reverent – like something out of one of those age old G-rated movies from Disney. And as he felt no resistance from me, he did it again. And again.

Simultaneously, we tilted our heads a bit and he began being playful, nipping at my lower lip. He flicked his tongue out to lick my lips before he again ghosted his mouth against mine. Again and again.

I let out a whimper and took our play to the next level. I parted my lips and instantly his mouth opened into mine. I forgot all about aliens, time lapses and Gundams. All that mattered was Heero. I clutched his hair with one hand, his shoulder with the other. I was vaguely aware that he had stood up, his body pressed tightly against mine while we kissed.

Oh, and how we kissed. It made the kiss I had shared with Steve seem like a poor, flat nothing. One of Heero's hands had slid to the nape of my neck, and he cupped my head, tenderly.

He finally broke away, hesitantly and leaned his forehead against mine. We were both breathing hard. "I wanted this... for such a long time, and now..." His voice was low, hoarse and his hands tightened on my shoulders. He gave me a little shake. "...I don't want 'could have been', anymore. I don't want to waste anymore time. I don't care what will happen," He licked his lips, "I love you, Duo."

I nodded, helplessly. Our foreheads rubbed and noses bumped. Letting out a breathless little laugh, I leaned back and let my eyes roam over his face, "Same here, 'Ro. Same here."

Someone cleared their throat from across the room. I craned my head to look back and saw Quatre standing in the doorway, looking smug. "What?" I asked gruffly.

"If that's finally settled," he said, smirking, "we've got Gundams to pilot."

-------------------

I was happy beyond words. Heero had said he loved me. Heero kissed me. It had been fantastic.

I sat in my Gundam, testing the systems, and grinned like a maniac. I whooped and spun the Gundam. It was astonishing how fast we all had adapted to handling the suits again during our holo training. But this, finally, was the real thing. I supposed piloting a Gundam was like riding a bicycle. You never really forgot how.

Now, sitting in my new buddy, it was as if I had never stopped piloting. I felt transported back in time, but for the noticeable improvement of my suit. It was fully redesigned for space now. The cockpit was far more comfortable that the older model had been. My body melted in the seat, it fit like a glove.

The controls were right at my fingertips, but the best upgrade of all was that each Gundam now housed a smaller version of Bethor's AI. Connecting our headsets to our com units made it possible to control the Gundam mentally. It was nothing like Zero system, all of our thoughts were still our own. It brought reaction time down considerably, and every command could be carried out without twitching a muscle.

It only worked through Bethor, but who was I to complain? The chances of getting out of range were minimal, considering that Bethor had been able to communicate with me all the way from Jupiter.

I found it fascinating. If the system was activated, it gave you a sort of double vision effect. The cockpit and the controls werein front of me and at the same time it was as if I was the suit. I saw as if I _was_ the Gundam. I was only too glad I didn't _feel_ the Gundam. It could really suck if ya took a hit like that.

If I weren't already so madly in love with Heero, I would fall in love with my Deathscythe. I chuckled at the thought and looked up.

Space surrounded me and I watched Heero and Quatre test their suits, spinning and turning their Gundams. It was a remarkable sight. The machines seemed so graceful, like... angels.

Heero's face popped on my screen. "Duo? Everything okay?"

"Yeah," I grinned at him, "was just watching."

He nodded. "I didn't realize I missed piloting this much. Not fighting, but piloting."

"Too bad that one comes with the other," I hummed.

"Guys?" Quatre popped up on a second screen. "You having a nice time chatting? Shall we order dessert up here?"

Heero smirked. "Green tea, please."

I had to grin. "Strawberry pie with double whipped cream for me."

"I give," Quatre said, putting up his hands in the air, but his suit did a classic offensive maneuver. "Or not."

"Whoa," I shouted. I knew instinctively what Quatre was up to, and my Gundam reacted to my thoughts, immediately in defensive mode. "You're an insidious rat. Ya didn't think I'd let ya get away with that, huh?"

I brought my scythe up and he dodged, but my system told me I had hit him. Barely, and next to nowhere near fatal, but I had a hit. We had our weapons systems running at only twenty five percent. The system registered the hit, but no damage would actually occur.

"Luck," he screeched, and attacked. I parried and countered, as Heero came at me, too.

"Unfair," I shouted as I did my best to defend myself. Two against one was almost too much. I was hit several times, but overall, I found I did well. I dished out almost as much as I got, to both of them.

Finally the system declared an end to the training session. I was as good as defeated and drenched in sweat. I hadn't moved so much as a muscle, but felt as if I had been put through a grinder. It was a good feeling. Freeing.

"Next time you're gonna get a grilling, Winner," I announced.

He laughed.

"You okay?" Heero asked tentatively.

"Oh, yeah," I smiled at his image on the screen. "A few bolts popped, and the left leg needs adjusting but overall the suit's fantastic. I wish we'd had them during the wars."

He shook his head and grimaced. "I meant you."

"Oh," I ducked my head and tried to hide my goofy grin. "I'm good." I glanced through my sweaty bangs at him and found him staring from the screen. I wasn't used to Heero asking for my wellbeing after a fight. It was nice, though. I tilted my head up and beamed. "Thanks. Go ahead. I'll be in ina minute."

He nodded and the screen went black. I observed him on my screens following Quatre to the ship and took a moment for myself to wind down. Honestly, I was worried about the impending battle. And after.

Time flew by quickly. It would be very soon that we would face off with the Xetoins. After much thought, we had decided to give a few select Maganacs the serum. They all had volunteered willingly. Four of them would be each our backups, should it be needed.

Altogether, we had twenty Mobile Suits and five Gundams against five Xetion ships. It would have to be sufficient. But what awaited us after that? Une seemed to be sure there would be more. Apart from the upcoming fight, our knowledge was limited. We had no more data we could refer to. Even Bethor didn't know what lay ahead. Was that the point where we both... I shuddered. No. I shoved the thought back deep into my mind.

Tomorrow Une would be here again. She had gone earth side, briefly, to attend to Preventer business. There were details to work out with the government representatives. They were slated to return to Earth as well. The observer would stay.

I had yet to ask Heero what Relena had wanted from him. Okay, I didn't really _need_ to know, but I _wanted_ to know. In a very unlike me, jealous sort of way. I snorted.

Relaxing in my seat, I pondered the last point, and worried. Heero was still bunking with me. Would he want to continue what we started on the observation deck? Go further? Now that we had declared ourselves to each other, I felt a little... skittish. Maybebecause I never before had to think of an afterwards. I had been clear with all of my former partners that it was only casual.

With Heero... with him, I couldn't think casual. It was just impossible. And that made me nervous, somehow.

I took in a deep breath and decided I had been out here long enough, drifting. I made my way back to the ship, towards the open freight doors. As I passed the shield, I saw them. No less then ten armed Preventers holding Quatre and Heero at gunpoint. And in front of them, Asshole Commander Wright.

I hesitated. Why the hell had nobody warned me? I shook my head and descended, letting my Deathscythe take a few steps into the freight room, and turned the suit to its holding position between Altron and Wing. Taking off my helmet, I raked my hand through my still sweaty bangs. I shut down and secured the system, and put the headset back in its holding compartment before opening the hatch and descended via the cable from the cockpit.

"What's the meaning of this?" I asked sharply.

"You're being arrested for treason, conspiracy and manufacturing of forbidden weapons," the asshole snarled.

"Oh, is that so?" I drawled. I glanced at Heero, who looked expressionless and Quatre, who looked... annoyed.

"Actually, yes," he replied arrogantly. "As of now, you are relieved of your position as Captain of this ship. I'll be taking over."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "And who, do you fucking think, will be backing you up?"

He pursed his lips. "All conspirators are to be secured in their cabins. I have the approval of the government representatives, after they were told that you built Gundams. This ship now is under control of the Preventers."

I smirked coldly. "What laws do you think you are acting upon?" I activated my com and ordered Bethor to open all the cabins, except Steven McKarmedy's.

He looked as if I had lost my mind. "The laws of the United Earth Sphere, naturally."

I nodded and looked down. Then, slowly, took a few steps, until I stood directly in front of him. I lifted my head and stared at him square in the eye. He shrunk back a fraction. I knew what he saw. A cold smile on my lips and an icy glare. The way I stared at my opponents during the war. A face that promised death. However, now I was not some 15 year old child. The effect was not in vain. He looked... highly disturbed.

"This ship," I started slowly, with a razor sharp voice, "is sovereign. Independent. It never was, is not now, and likely never will be, under the laws of the United Earth Sphere." I was furious that he had the audacity to even try to steal my ship. I raised my voice a notch. "I am the Captain of this ship. No. One. Else. It is my birthright and my inheritance. This ship will not obey you. What I say is the fucking law, here. And what you are doing here is fucking mutiny."

He stared into my eyes, spooked, and I knew they had changed to violet. He opened his mouth to say something, but I waved with a hand, cut him off.

Ignoring the guns aimed at me, I hissed, "You are the one being fucking arrested here."

I ordered Bethor to activate the magnetic lockdown in the freight area. There were clattering sounds as the guns were ripped out of their owner's hands and pulled to the floor. I looked around slowly. They all looked spooked at the sudden loss of their guns.

They certainly thought I had supernatural abilities. "Heero," I asked, "would you please escort Commander Wright out. He is confined to his quarters."

Heero nodded and stepped forward, sweeping a gun up from the floor. He made it look as if he did it with ease, but I knew better. He had yet to train the gun at the commander, instead holding the gun to his side. I'm sure it took a lot of his strength to keep it there. I revoked the magnetic lockdown and he glanced at me, quirking his lips as he passed me by, gesturing the Commander out.

"You will regret this," the Commander ranted, "Une will..." the rest of his words were cut off as the door closed behind them.

I looked at the rest of the Preventers, glancing around unsure and nervous. "Don't get any ideas. You'll regret it. We'll settle this tomorrow. In the meantime, you will get your orders from the next agent in rank; Chang Wufei, I think it is? Dismissed."

"You think that was appropriate?" Quatre came up to me as the agents had left the freight area, and we slowly walked towards the door.

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest. "What else could I have done? Why didn't you warn me?"

He shook his head. "They had a dampener. It disabled communication."

I let my head fall with a thump against the wall and closed my eyes. "You could have ordered Bethor to warn me."

He looked astonished. "I... hadn't thought of that. It would have worked despite the dampener?"

I shrugged one shoulder. "It worked when I used it."

He nodded. "I'm still not completely used to the constant connection to the AI," he confessed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. We have to work with what we got."

"We have to convince Une tomorrow, about all this," he leaned against the wall beside me, "and the government representatives."

I nodded. "I'd like to know who has ratted on us."

"An agent had overheard a few techs talking. He ran to his commander and they put us under observation, gathering evidence." He looked down at his boots, "You sure you can use this argument? A sovereign, independent ship?"

I sighed. "I can't have them try again. Best to clear the fronts now."

"Okay," he sighed. "I'll contact my lawyers. See what they say."

"I'm sorry I dragged you all into that." I looked at him.

He smiled, put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. "We'd be offended if you hadn't." With that, he pushed up from the wall and left.

--------------------

I hesitated in front of my quarters and took a deep breath. Bethor had confirmed that Heero was already in there. What now? I chuckled softly to myself. I felt like I was on my first date. God. This was ridiculous. We were both grown, experienced men. Nothing to be nervous about, right?

We five had spent most of the evening and night cycle discussing the confrontation with Une and the government representatives tomorrow, no, later today. Quatre's lawyers had responded immediately, researched and gave their recommendations via vid conference a short time ago. We were prepared as best as we could be

I made a short stop at the freight area and left a few notes for Howard about my Gundam's testing results. And now I was bone tired and just wanted to sleep. But Heero was in there.

I straightened and palmed the pad. Heero was crouched in front of an open drawer. He turned his head as the door opened.

"Hey," I said softly, stepping into the room.

"Hey," he replied, as he closed the drawer and stood. He had already showered. He was in pajama bottoms, his chest bare and hair still damp.

I found my eyes glued to his bare hest. "I..." I yawned. "Sorry."

He chuckled and took a few steps to stand in front of me. He raised a hand to my cheek and his eyes roamed over my face. "You are tired." He stated matter of fact.

"Hmm," I replied and closed my eyes, leaning my head slightly into his hand.

He took me by the shoulder and gave me a little shove. "Go, shower."

I blinked as I stumbled into the bathroom. There were already fresh towels, and a pair of pajamas placed there. I peeled out of my clothes and let them fall to the floor, turned the shower on and stepped under the spray. Tilting my head back, I stood there a few minutes, letting the hot water soak me before I grabbed the shower gel and began to scrub. I loosened my braid and shampooed my hair, turned and closed my eyes and let the water rinse the soap out.

A hand was put on my shoulder, and I let out a startled yelp. Heero stood behind me. He chuckled softly. "Let me help. You're bone tired".

I nodded, and he began to gently scrub my scalp to rinse the shampoo. When he was done, he shut the water off and wrung out my hair. A towel was pressed in my hand and one thrown over my head and he rubbed gently while I slung the one in my hand around my hips. I dared to open an eye. In the bathroom mirror, I could see him standing behind me, a solemn expression on his face, while he rubbed my hair dry.

I had to smile. "Heero?"

"Hmm?"

"You came into the shower with me in it," I stated.

"We've actually showered together, before. In the Gym," he answered, still rubbing my hair.

"Yeah, but..." I began.

"I.. didn't touch you," he said, a little unsure.

He was actually right. He hadn't touched me, but for my hair. I smirked.

"Yeah, but..."

He didn't let me finish, and his hands fell from my hair to his sides. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have... I thought... I assumed..."

"Heero!" I turned and grabbed him with both hands at the shoulders. That I lost the towel in the process came to me much later. "It's okay." I said softly at his distressed expression. "I just wanted to mention that you did it with your pajamas still on." I snatched his waistband and let it plop back. "They're soaked."

He actually looked embarrassed.

"Well," he stammered, "I wasn't sure you..."

I kissed him. Skin touched skin and he shuddered, his arms came around me and our bodies were pressed together. I deepened the kiss. Need was like a volcano erupting. My arms slid around Heero, hands moving up over his back, then downwards, taking the wet pajamas with them. I cupped his firm cheeks while Heero wriggled out of the wet clothing, kicking them away, eagerly responding, while all the time our tongues were battling for dominance.

Heero groaned into my mouth as I ground myself into his hip, our stiff cocks rubbing against each other. I slid my left hand onto his muscled abdomen and upwards, flicking at his nipple. He growled, his hands coming down to my ass, and he lifted me up, carried me to one of the beds and lowered us down gently, still kissing.

We were entwined in a bundle of limbs and tongues and still damp skin. He broke the kiss, nipping his way down my body, kissing over my jaw to my collarbone, down my chest and nibbling at my nipple, his hands roaming over my body. He went further still, nuzzling my bellybutton, and finally settled between my legs, ...

-----  censored as for NC-17 contents -------------

...I slumped back and let out a breathless laugh and he lifted his head, grinning goofily at me before he slumped back down, and rolling slightly to his side. He lifted a hand and gently ran his fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes for just a moment.

When I opened them again, I was alone.

"Heero?" I asked quietly and he stuck his head out of the bathroom door, toothbrush in mouth, hair damp from his shower.

"Mornin'," he mumbled between bubbles and I blinked. I couldn't believe I'd fallen asleep.

Leaning up on my elbows, I looked at the clock and groaned. We had overslept. "Shit. We're late!" I exclaimed. It was already ten on the day circle and we had the meeting at ten thirty. I rushed to the bathroom and gave Heero a short kiss in passing as he came out.

"You have time," he declared. "Quatre and Wufei will fill in Une before the meeting, you know that."

"Uh-huh," I answered. It was my turn to mumble through bubbles. I rinsed and spat out. "Y'know, I wanted to see her face."

He chuckled. "Hurry up."

"Aye, sir," I called out as I hopped in the shower, grinning.

-------------------

"Who do you think you are?" One of the representatives called out.

"Well, that's a good question," I replied. "Bethor, who am I?"

"You are Duo Maxwell, Captain, pilot of Deathscythe Hell II. Former pilot of Gundam Deathscythe and Deathscythe Hell. Codename Shingami. Raised as an orphan on the streets of L2, a beggar and thief for six years."

I blinked at that, embarrassed. "Well, you could have left _that_ part out," I muttered under my breath.

Bethor continued, naturally unimpressed. "Born as Nemamiah on April 20, A.C. 180. Offspring of Hope, warrior, suit pilot, crewmember. Fathered by Ambriel, warrior, and my former Captain."

Une whipped her head around, staring at me.

I continued, "Where was I born and raised for the first five years of my life?"

"On this ship."

"Am I a member of the UES?"

"You are a member of my original crew. I have no data that you are an official member of the UES. My collected data confirms humans born on Earth and colonies are members of the UES. You were born in space, near Jupiter. Logic implies the necessity of an official act, as your human parents also were not members of the UES."

"Will you accept the laws of the UES?"

"If they are not contradictory to my mission, yes."

"What if they are contradicting?" I asked.

"I will ignore them."

"Bethor, what is your mission?"

"My mission is to protect the Earth, the colonies and its inhabitants."

"Who gave you this order?"

"Ruler over the Earth, the colonies, and its inhabitants, Treize Krushrenada."

There was a collective gasp.

I continued, "Can this order be revoked?"

"No."

"What if your mission fails?"

"I am to self destruct."

I pursed my lips. "What if I am forcefully removed from here, or die?"

"I would try to defend you. If this should fail, I would have to select a new suitable Captain."

"Would you accept someone provided by the government of the UES?"

"No. I would select a new suitable Captain."

"Who would decide if this person is suitable?"

"I would." Bethor repeated.

"What if the government of the UES is not in agreement with you?"

"I would ignore the government."

I looked around. They bristled at that, and noises of protests were heard. I raised my voice. "Is there someone on board who could replace me? Whom you would accept as a new Captain?"

"Yes."

"Is that person someone other than a former gundam pilot?"

"No."

"Am I, as your Captain, able to influence you on that decision?"

"No."

"Who could?"

"The initiator of that order, Treize Krushrenada."

Again, there were gasps heard.

"How did you choose your first captain? The captain that started this mission."

"As I have chosen you. We merged and I assessed abilities and intentions of the aspirants, matching them to my mission. He was the best suitable out of 834 candidates."

"Were his abilities and intentions different from mine?" I grimaced at this. Of course they were. I was his son, not his clone. "In which way were they?" I added.

"Ambriel was not able to pilot a suit as you are. You are not experienced in commanding a battle ship. Your intentions are similar in the necessary points."

"How do you know that?"

"We merged, and I have monitored you over the last five years."

I nodded and looked around. "You heard the AI. I will fight for you as I have done before and I will give my life for you if it is necessary. But, I will do so under my own conditions. This ship," I raised my arm and made a wide gesture around, "is a small, sovereign colony of its own. It may have been assembled on Earth, but it never stood under the rules of the United Earth Sphere. It doesn't do so now. It is independent. Because where this ship is from, there was no UES. You can't insist of ruling the universe, just because you rule over the UES. The Xetoins are proof of that."

I looked down and closed my eyes briefly, before I took a deep breath and continued. "I claim for me and for this ship independent status. We are not members of the UES. In fact, in accepting my invitation here, you came into foreign territory. Accepted a treaty in a common goal. Defend the Earth. We can work together and compare plans, and decide on the best plan of action. If your plans turn out to be rational, better than mine, I will go with them. But if you further demand to take control, demand to keep your laws, which are contrary to reaching this goal, demand to give up valuable means, the Gundams, for reaching the goal, I will withdraw from this treaty. I will ask you to leave."

There was a deafening silence.

Relena smirked. She finally stood up and addressed her colleagues. "We have heard Mr. Maxwell's point of view. We have heard the AI of this ship. I personally think the statements of the AI are authentic. In the past, Mr. Maxwell here, as well as the other Gundam pilots, have fought to achieve the peace we have now. He has personally saved my life during that time. He has helped to protect that peace during the Dekim affair. His profile, all five of them actually, indicate a strong impulse to prevent suffering of people who cannot defend themselves. A strong opposition against war. Maybe that was what helped them to be successful in the first place."

"That was years ago. People change," someone called out.

"That is true," Relena said. "They grew up and life defined them. But what we have in our reports of Duo Maxwell's life until now," she held up a folder, "proves that not only is this impulse still an important part of his personality, it is a defining factor in his life. For example, rather than focus on amassing greater wealth, he chooses to donate large amounts of money to organizations that help orphaned children and people in need. Or the way he has provided replicators to the colonies for use in churches and orphanages, free of charge, to try to ease the people's suffering."

I felt my ears go hot.

"He," she turned and pointed at me, "has done things we, the government, have handled very poorly. I do not see a man who wants to take over the world. I see a man who helps where he is able to. If the safety of the world is the price for accepting that he is his own state, his own government, I'll say we begin to build up diplomatic connections." She looked around and took her seat.

"Besides," Heero stood, "there is a fact you are all missing. I did too." He looked down at me with a sad smile.

I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling suddenly nauseous. I let my chin fell to my chest and hid behind my bangs. He wouldn't...

"This ship and his parents come from a future which, if we are successful, will never be. With our victory, there will no longer be a need to send them back here. He... expects that he will no longer exist here, neither he nor the ship, once the threat is eliminated. And still, he is willing to go through with it." Heero sat back down, and the room fell silent.

I could feel all eyes on me. God, was I embarrassed. Glancing sideways through my bangs I scowled at him. "Uhm," I began, but Une was faster.

"This would be a good moment to consider my requests for a Special Force. A Division of trained agents who would handle threats to peace, such as this one is, independently..."

"Don't change the topic, Une," one of the representatives said. "We have to make a decision here. We will have to decide if this is some big charade, or a good scene play or a terrible truth. And live with that decision. I admit, it sounds almost too fantastic to be a ploy. The technology I have seen on this ship is too advanced for our time period. Of course, it is possible that Mr. Maxwell here took advantage of the finding of the ship and spun a tale around it and programmed the AI to speak as he wishes."

"I do not lie," I burst out, "ever."

"We don't know that," he said to me, before he continued to his colleagues. "If we ignore a possible threat, it could be fatal. As for the building of the Gundams, there first has to be a decision on whether Mr. Maxwell is to be judged under the laws of the UES or not. If in fact he was not born in the UES, he cannot be made responsible for the violation of the prohibition to assemble Gundams. There is also the fact that he did not do so in the Earth's vicinity."

He spread his hands, "Is he right in his assumption that the UES laws are not valid for him? That would validate that this ship is indeed a sovereign, independent place. Or, does the simple fact that he is human puts him under UES laws," He sighed. "A trial may take place several years from now, and we may not have them. Of course, every lawyer could argue that a judge under the laws of the UES would be prejudiced." He sat down again, and a heated discussion began.

My head swam. I looked up at the other four and was relieved. Quatre stood after a while. I took that as my cue to leave the room as well.

I leaned back against the wall in the hallway and let my head fall back, eyes closed.

"My God, Duo," Quatre said and touching me lightly at the shoulder. "Is that true? Will you..." he made a choked sound.

I let a little, sad smile graze my face. "I don't know, Quat. I don't know what will happen. We'll have to see."

---------------------

tbc


	9. Chosniel

Thank you very much, guys, for the nice replies. I'm glad you like. So, we go on with a further part of this adventure:

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: Dacia's site at raygunworks. net  
Pairing: 1x2, 4x3  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them, used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.

Notes: The threads of time have been altered and the Duo that every one knew isn't what he seems to be. After the EW, the pilots walked out of each other lives, but now a great danger looms. They are back together again... this time maybe even a bit closer. Will Duo's secret be the key to their survival?

And the credits go to… Ellimaru and Sakusha for most appreciated help and suggestions while betaing…

**Future of the Past - # 9 Chosniel**

**(Cover)** An angel invoked for the conferring of a good memory and an open heart.

--------------------

"There's a lot of confusion in that room," Quatre stated and furrowed his brows. "Two of them are sure you are lying. Their emotions are very clear. Relena trusts you. So does Une. But Une has no vote. Blonski, the one who spoke, is not entirely sure, but I feel his trust for Relena. I think he'll vote in our favor." He paused. "The other three are still undecided. They fear us."

"You've gotten pretty good with that empathy thing," I looked at him.

Quatre nodded, "I can control it better now. It's more definable. And I can block now, too." He smiled at me, "It's a relief."

"It's weird," I answered, "the last time we simulated a fight with the Xetoins, I got a feeling…"

My com was pinged. 'Come back in,' Trowa said.

Straightening, I pushed away from the wall and looked questioningly at Quatre. He shrugged and we went back into the conference room. I surveyed the room. Wufei looked grim. Trowa was expressionless and Heero looked… vulnerable. I glanced at Une, and she pursed her lips. Relena had a determined expression on her face.

"We're at a draw," she declared. "We don't have the necessary majority."

"We will have a vid conference with the President. He'll confer with his consultants and the rest of the parliament and make the final decision," Blonski sighed. "We can't make a decision on whether to acknowledge your claim of sovereignty." He shook his head, "It could take months."

"We don't have months," Une threw in.

"We've would have had months," he said sharply, "if Mr. Maxwell, here, would have given us all the information in time."

I winced, but then shook my head. "No. If I had given you all the details, it would have turned out the same, maybe worse. The media would have had a field day. It would have hit the news all over the world and the colonies. There would have been mass hysteria. Fanatics would have started revolts. People aren't stupid. Some of them would have used this to create chaos, maybe even overthrow the government."

I walked slowly in front of the conference table. "You are aware that Earth does not have the large military presence it once had. You cannot fight revolts in multiple places at the same time. The Preventers alone cannot control this kind of situation." I shook my head again. "The only option is to handle this as quietly as possible. If the President consults the parliament, there will be reporters. I won't let that happen."

I took a deep breath. "The laws of the United Earth Sphere are not suited for this kind of situation. There's no handbook 'how to deal with alien invaders'."

Relena snorted, amused.

"This is an unknown situation. This is what we were trained for; once. To deal with unknown, dangerous situations. You remember what happened to OZ and the Alliance. Their chain of command prevented quick reactions to our attacks. This will happen again, if you have your way, only worse. You can debate this as long as you want when this is over, but you have to make your decision, now." I took my earlier abandoned seat again.

There was a heavy silence. Finally, Blonski asked, "You want us to ignore all our laws and regulations?"

"No," I narrowed my eyes at him. "But this is a state of emergency. And if you cannot see that, I will act accordingly."

"This is blackmail!" One of the representatives called out.

I snorted. "It would be blackmail if I withdrew myself contingent on your answer. I _will_ fight this battle, regardless of the outcome of this here. The only question is if I fight with your full support or not." I crossed my arms over my chest. "If you force me to withdraw our treaty, and go out on my own, the shuttles are waiting. You can go home."

Blonski pinched the bridge of his nose. "Is there anything you have not told us, anything to help convince us that there is in fact a threat? Anything to justify your claim?

"Something other than Agent Po taking a gene sample of me and comparing it positive to the original crew?" I took a deep breath and thought hard. "No. Although, there is a file… a vid recording," I shook my head. "No. It won't change anything."

"What file?" Relena asked.

"Look," I said, raking my hand through my bangs, "it's not really significant in this time line, since here Treize is already dead."

"Explain," she demanded.

"Treize gave a recording to my father, just in case. He couldn't know that this timeline is completely different from the one he knows. He didn't consider that the Gundams might actually defeat him in another timeline. He expected to be still in charge."

She pursed her lips. "Have you seen this file?"

I shook my head. "No. Not really. Just the beginning. Treize was trying to convince his younger self that the recording was not a fake." I shrugged. "But since he's dead anyway…" I trailed off.

Une bit her lip and nodded, "Let's see. It can't do any harm. But maybe…"

"No one can confirm its authenticity," a representative said.

"My point," I grinned at him sweetly.

"I want to see it," Relena said, looking at her watch. "We've sat here for seven hours. A few minutes more are not of concern."

"Okay," I sighed and slumped back in my chair. "Bethor, access to private files, Ambriel, code HN04201. Security backup. Mission orders. Evidence. Open file."

The screen lit up and we saw a much older, very regal looking Treize, sitting at a very large desk. His hands were folded over some papers, his tired eyes looking into the camera. "I am Emperor Treize Kushrenada. The year now is A.C. 257 Believe what you are being told, my friend. If you do not, your world – as you know it -will come to an end quite soon, that I assure you. This recording has not been modified in any way. I am you. I know myself well enough that I can imagine your face now. And your distrust. I assume that Captain Ambriel has sought your help because something in his mission went wrong. I hereby assure you that everything he told you is true."

He leaned forward slightly. "The Xetoins will be invading this solar system in the year A.C. 202. Our military forces were not able to stop them. We have been fighting the same war for fifty years now, and we are on the verge of losing. Our only hope is to stop it before it begins. Before our forces are crushed, and so many die. Our scientists have come up with a way to breach the time-space continuum. We are sending one of our finest, and maybe our last hope, back to you. So that hopefully, with the technology that we did not have so many years ago, you can prevail. Stop the holocaust that is my legacy, your legacy.

"The only evidence that I can offer that this is me, Treize Kushranada," he leaned back in his chair, "is a memory. I still remember it vividly. You should, too, as for you it is not so long ago as it is for me." He chuckled softly. "A summer day in A.C. 195 during the Gundam war. July 28. A dinner with a lovely lady in a rose garden. Your only love, believe me, I know. You plucked a rose for the lady and pricked yourself on one of its thorns. You proposed that evening and the lady accepted. The next morning, the lady died in a Gundam attack. A mecha with a scythe. We blew it to pieces. There still is a scar where the thorn cut you. You never told anyone. I never told anyone. Trust Ambriel. He is our only chance."

The screen went black.

Whoa. I looked around. My gaze stopped on Une, who sat stock still in her chair, pale, still staring at the blank screen. Une. Lady Une. Lady Une.

She took a deep breath. "I never told anyone, either," she said in a clear voice. "Nobody else was there. The servants had been sent away. We had turtle for dinner. He wouldn't let me help with the thorn. I stayed the night. But there was no Gundam attack the next day."

"No," I said, "There wasn't. And Deathscythe wasn't blown to pieces. Not then."

Une shook her head. "Nobody could have known. We never told anyone about the engagement. This is authentic. Without doubt." She stood and said, "Gentlemen, Miss Darlian-Peacecraft, if you are still in doubt, I'll hand over my resignation."

-----

"This rocks. Who would have thought? Une and Treize," I shook my head, still astonished. I rested my legs on the empty chair beside me, lounging back in my own. We had decided to spent a little relaxing time on the holo deck, in the 'bar'. We had a little billiards competition. It was Heero's and Trowa's battle just now.

Wufei crossed his arms over his chest. "I find it more convenient that she was here to see it. Nobody else would have seen something in that file."

"That's right." Quatre took a sip from his beer. "And who would have thought her declaration swayed two of the representatives?"

I shook my head. "And attacking Treize's stronghold, with only one Gundam. What idiot pilot would have done that? Treize and Une. Eek."

"They trusted her word," Wufei replied, ignoring me, "why not ours?"

"We're merely soldiers, in their eyes. Ex-Terrorists," Quatre shrugged.

Wufei snorted. "You are the head of WEI. Maxwell has Invent Techs. I'm a top Preventer Agent."

"They're not seeing that," Quatre said. "They see politics and weapons."

I shuddered. "I would've never done that. Was the idiot suicidal? You can't go blowing up a stronghold like that all by yourself. Hey, why didn't _you_ provide backup?"

Quatre looked at me with a confused face.

Wufei looked irritated. "Maxwell, if you would stop ranting about Une's love life and the destruction of your Gundam, which wasn't even _your_ Gundam in that time line and didn't even happen in _this_ time line, by the way, you'd…"

I burst out laughing. "Hey, man. We're supposed to be celebrating. And what are you doing?" I leaned on the table, and looked at him earnestly. "We've got what we wanted, didn't we? Stop going on about the how and why."

"According to Bethor's data," Trowa put a data pad on the table, "the Gundams never battled in unison. They battled separately."

I turned my head. He stood beside me, cue stick in hand, smirking. "You united us. Whoever it was piloting Deathscythe never did."

I looked up at him, "Did I?"

There was a silent pause at the table. Trowa looked around, before his gaze settled on me. "Yes," he said simply.

"Your turn," Heero broke up the silence. He stepped up to the table, and handed his cue stick over to me.

I raised an eyebrow, grabbing the stick. "You lost?"

"Hn." But his lips quirked up in a small grin.

"Oh, my," I stood and struck a dramatic pose, "Heero Yuy, defeated at billiards."

"Idiot," he said affectionately. "Even your calculations at trajectory derivations were usually more accurate than mine."

We laughed and I stepped up to the billiard table where Trowa already had a new game set up.

-----

After a couple more rounds, we called it a night and went to our quarters. As soon as the door closed behind us, Heero whirled around and grabbed me, pressing my back against said door, and kissed the living hell out of me. Fuck, but it felt so good. I groaned into his mouth and clutched at his shoulders, holding on for all I was worth.

By the time he was done, we both were breathing heavily. I let my head fall back and studied his face behind half-closed eyes. He radiated passion and contentment. He had always been passionate, in all that he did, but the contentment was new. It saddened me to realize that there were sides of Heero I'd never seen before. I wanted to know them all.

He reached up and tenderly pushed the bangs out of my face. "Want to watch a movie?" He asked.

I tried to scowl at him but it was betrayed by the grin, stealing itself on my face. "You've gone through my stuff."

He shrugged, unconcerned. "I've uncluttered our quarters."

Peering over his shoulder, I looked around. I hadn't noticed it before, but he actually had. The room was noticeably tidier. I raised an eyebrow "When'd ya do this?"

"This morning," he smirked. "You slept like the dead."

I hadn't noticed it in my haste to get ready this morning either. A little embarrassed, I lowered my head, shook it slowly, frowning. He had rummaged around and I hadn't woken. What did that mean? Had I lost my touch? I have never, ever, been able to sleep through someone moving about any room I was sleeping in. It's a street thing. I can go from dead sleep to instant alert in a heartbeat.

Heero put his fingers under my chin, and raised my head, gently. "I'm happy that I have your trust," He looked earnest, almost reverent. He guessed without words exactly what I was thinking.

Quirking a grin, I watched his face. "Yeah, well…" I licked my lips. Instantly his eyes flickered down, and his own lips parted slowly. He had his fingers on my chin still, and leaned forward, kissing me softly. At least, that's how it started.

I pressed my mouth against Heero's, lips slightly parted, and Heero melted into me. His tongue darting out, pushing in my mouth. The low hum of a moan rumbled deep in his chest. My hands snaked up and threaded through Heero's hair. I clutched at his skull, eager, and fervently. Our bodies melted together and he slipped his thigh between mine and began rubbing against me, his body warm, hard and demanding.

Pressed up against his body, I held Heero's head in place, still ravishing his mouth. It felt so good. I slipped my hand under his t-shirt, fingertips ghosting over his strong back muscles, and then slid up over his shoulder blades. I moved my other hand and gripped his hip, flipped him around until his back hit the wall with a thud. He grunted, startled.

Fumbling with the buttons of my jeans, Heero broke off the kiss to swear as he struggled, then wrenched open the buttons and plunged his hand inside.

"Wait… bed," I mumbled, eyelids fluttering shut as Heero's hand wrapped around my aching cock. "Let's… oh, fuck…"

"Here… now…" Heero murmured, hand already stroking with a strong, knowing rhythm.

I groaned. There was no way I could refuse him. I eagerly rubbed the bulge in Heero's pants. I bit my lower lip, panting, as I impatiently tugged at Heero's zipper. It only took a second before his cock jumped free of his jeans to leap into my waiting palm. I pressed closer and kissed him again, stroking my own cock with the head of his, damp and twitching. I wanted Heero, God, I really wanted him.

Heero clutched my shoulder, gripping hard, surely bruising. His tongue was in my mouth again. I sucked at it, licked it, and grazed my teeth over it as we thrust frantically into each other's fists, grunting. Nothing tender here, just need. Fast blissful sex, deep and primal. No hint of seduction or reverent touches.

Heero tensed, wrenched his mouth from mine. "Close," he panted in my ear. "Wait… uhh… stop…"

It wasn't possible. I whimpered, just short of combusting I was sure. If we stopped now, I probably die. I looked down between us, at our bodies so close together. His hand around my cock as mine gripped his. Again, I stroked Heero's cock against my own, pressing the heads together this time, and Heero came with a grunt, squirting hot cum all over my cock, hand, and belly.

I stopped stroking, but his fist contracted with each spasm and that was enough to send me over the edge too. I let my head drop onto Heero's shoulder as I shuddered. My knees buckled and I rolled back against the wall, eyes glued to his face.

I was still gasping for air as Heero raised his hand to his mouth and licked at his fingers. My cock twitched at the sight.

"Here." Heero jerked his shirt over his head and was offering it to me to clean myself off with. He was smiling. Looking pretty pleased with himself, in fact. Maybe even a bit smug.

"Thanks." We moved, and I did my best to deal with the mess, taking off my shirt as well. I got the worst of it, by the looks of things. Or the best. The air smelled of sex, and I shivered, suddenly cold at the loss of contact. I reached out to take Heero in my arms. I wanted to nuzzle into the soft skin of his neck and press our bodies together again, warm and safe.

He chuckled softly as he embraced me. "About the movie?" He asked.

I lazily grinned up at him. "Yeah, man. Movie."

He tugged me across the room and gave me a gentle shove so that I slumped down on the couch. I watched him as he crouched down on his haunches, and fumbled with the disks. He popped one in the slot and grabbed the remote, switching the screen on before he stood, and then came over, sat on the couch.

I snuggled against his still bare chest, and he threw an arm around me. We lounged on the couch, watching an old movie like… a real couple.

"Y'know, I like this." Craning my neck, I looked up at Heero as the credits started to roll.

"Heero?" I pushed into a sitting position and twisted a leg under me so that I was facing him. "What's wrong?"

"Earlier, Une said she wants us," he elaborated, looking at me. "For a new Unit. Special Force Phoenix, she said."

"Well," I shrugged, and said bitterly, "I'm not in for long-term plans at the moment." A hurt expression flashed over his face, and I bit my lip, instantly sorry for the careless comment. "Shit..." I reached out and gripped his arm. He was tense. "Sorry Heero. I didn't mean…" I hurled myself at him, sitting practically in his lap, arms around him. "Please. Forget it." A fine tremor ran through him. I cursed myself.

He flung his arms around me and crushed me against his chest. He buried his face in my neck. "Don't," his voice sounded muffled, "don't do this."

I smiled sadly. "'kay, Ro. That was stupid. We don't know what will happen. Maybe… maybe nothing will at all." Shit.

He nodded into my neck.

I squeezed my eyes shut against my fear. I'd just have to set it aside for now. Get over it and deal with it when the time comes. Like always. Why was it so hard this time? I took a deep breath, gripped his shoulders, and pushed away from him. Reluctantly, he loosened his grip. My breath hitched as I looked in his eyes; they had gone from Prussian to deep Indigo, shone with pain. In that moment, any remaining doubts I might have had about Heero's feeling for me were gone. We were now bound to each other. God, what had I done to him? Done to myself?

"Make love to me," I whispered without meaning to say it aloud, while staring deep in his eyes. The words came out of the deepest parts of my soul, the very core of myself.

Heero gasped, and then his eyes fluttered closed. He moaned, his back arched and he clawed at my back. Then he shuddered, before slumping against me, breathing hard.

I stared at him, startled. "Heero?"

He twitched but otherwise didn't move.

"Heero?" I touched his neck but he still didn't move. I could feel his heart racing against my chest. The pace was unreal. Urgently, I stroked his hair. He still didn't respond so I shook him. "Heero, please. What's wrong?"

"Oh… God," he moaned. "Oh my… God.

I became frightened. I cradled his head in my palms and carefully lifted his face to mine, afraid of seeing something horrible, like pain or despair…

He smiled. His eyes were heavily lidded, almost completely closed, and he had the most peaceful expression on his face. Sated. Satisfied. And that incredible smile. I froze, perplexed. What the hell had happened?

"Heero?" I asked again, softly, "please…"

Lazily, he opened his eyes and I saw the pupils were wide and dilated. He looked like he was on a drug induced high. High from sitting here watching a movie? It was rather impossible.

"How…" his voice sounded husky and he licked his lips, "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?" I was at a loss.

He laughed, softly, in a joyous manner, causing goosebumps on my skin. He brought his hands up and covered mine, tilted his head to place a kiss in my palm. Then he let himself fall against the backrest of the couch, head flung back.

"Heero..." I growled. "You'd better…"

"You just brought me... in two and a half seconds... without even touching me," He chuckled softly. "I just creamed my pants."

"You… " I gaped as I processed his words. "What?"

"Not me, you. It was all you," he said. "From zero to a hundred in two and a half seconds. God." He sighed. "That was… one hell of a ride," He shook his head. "How'd you do that?""

"I…" I peered down in his lap. There was in fact a wet spot in his jeans. I blinked. I felt like I was in the wrong movie. "I didn't do anything."

"Oh, yes. You did." He furrowed his brows in concentration. "You said 'Make love to me' and your voice… I felt it. It was like velvet, caressing me everywhere… outside and deep from the inside, like… if you stroked me from the inside, my soul… like a… silk scarf gliding across my body…" he trailed off.

His hand came up, and caught me behind my neck. He tugged me down to him, and kissed me in that lazy, sated after-sex manner, gratefully, reverently, but oh, so deeply. His mouth worked against mine and our tongues swirled, sipping, sucking. He let go and his hands wandered over my body, fingertips kneading and sliding. Breaking the kiss, I leaned back. "Uhh…"

"What is it?"

I huffed. "You're fresh out of ammo."

He blinked, and then grinned, popping the buttons of my jeans. "But you aren't." He licked his lips. "And I know just the way to change that."

In a blink of an eye I was airborne, and he flipped me back onto the couch cushions. I felt my jeans sliding down my legs in a rush of fabric. A hot draft puffed over my groin, and fuck, his wet, hot, tongue lapped at my balls. I felt the heavy sensation of my stirring cock, and looked down along my body at Heero. We locked gazes, and his eyes shone with such intensity that it left me breathless. Never breaking eye contact, he licked along my hard cock. I let my head fall back, and closed my eyes, just felt, as he engulfed me in his mouth.

"Oh, yeah babe… uhh,… do that…" Oh, fuck, but it was so good.

-----

Something woke me up. I was on instant alert. I lay still while I registered my surroundings. I was in bed. A warm body entwined with me. Heero. It was quiet, but for his soft breaths. He was still asleep. I opened my eyes. The lights were off and everything was still. A ping came through the com. I activated it.

'Captain to the bridge.' It was Bethor.

'What is it?' I requested in silent communication with the AI.

'Deep range scans discovered five moving objects within the solar system,' Bethor answered.

A rush of adrenaline hit my system and I closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths. Was that it? The battle was to begin, but would it be my end?

'One of many possibilities.' Bethor answered my unasked question.

"Duo?" Heero had turned his head, eyes open and alert. "Did you have a nightmare? You got tense all of a sudden." He cautiously pried my clenched fingers from his waist. Oh… I must have clung to him harder than I had intended to.

I licked my lips and chuckled darkly, pressing a kiss to his collarbone. "You could say that. A living one." I shook my head, told myself to get a grip. I gave the mental order for lights. "The dance is about to begin."

He blinked at me, for the sudden brightness or my comment, I couldn't tell. But I could see understanding creeping in his eyes. "Now?"

Throwing the covers aside, I swung my legs out of the bed and sat up. "Yep, zero one. Now." I stood, walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of clean jeans. I stepped into them and was on my way out of our quarters before I even had them buttoned. "Meet me on the bridge," I called over my shoulder before the door behind me swished shut.

"Bethor, notify Barton, Chang, and Winner to meet me on the bridge," I said out loud.

'Acknowledged.' The reply came silently.

I switched my com off and marched through the silent hallways. And so it begins, I thought to myself.

-----

Bethor displayed the solar system on the main screen on the bridge. The door opened, but I refused to tear my eyes from the five tiny dots blinking on the screen, to acknowledge Wufei and Heero coming to stand beside me. I could feel Heero's fingers searching and taking my hand in his. He gave a reassuring squeeze.

As the door opened a second time, and Trowa and Quatre entered I took a deep breath, and let go of Heero's hand. I took a step forward, and turned to face them.

"Bethor discovered five moving objects entering the solar system," I informed them.

"We'll have to move," Wufei said.

I nodded.

"First, we need to evacuate all non combat personnel," Quatre looked closely at the screen.

Heero just watched, his eyes burning into me. I wondered what he was feeling before I ripped my eyes away from his, swallowing hard.

"Bethor, specs," I said.

"Angle of entry in our solar system points at Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy() as departure, distance approximately sixty thousand Light-years. Momentary position of intruders at a distance of 31.75 AU's to us, intercepting shortly Neptune's circulation course to the sun." Bethor reported.

"When are they going to reach Earth?" I asked, despite that I had already done the math in my head.

"At current speed, approximately thirty five days."

I nodded. "Is there any indication that they've spotted us?"

"Unknown."

I looked down. "Bethor, hyper yammers online, cloaking now. Initiate a ship wide wake-up call. Everyone is to meet in the mess in thirty minutes."

"Acknowledged."

"Gonna go get dressed," I mumbled and looked up again, taking my friends in. They looked as rumpled as I'm sure I did. "You too," I said, "We've got amission."

-----

Riffling through his closet, I decided on his captains' dress uniform.

I'd grabbed my boots, andwent to my parent's quarters. I stood there, lost in thought. Only Heero's questioning call over the com startled me out of my thoughts. I slipped into my father's trousers. The legs were narrow cut, and a little too long. The waist wasalittle too loose, but I solved it with a belt. The legs I stuffed into my boots. The jacket fit better, a little snug in the shoulders, but not too much. It was tailored in the waistline and went down to my knees, like a half coat.

I stood in front of the mirror and stared. The grey uniform jacket had a high, dark grey, almost black, stiff collar. The same color as the high cuffs on the sleeves, which covered half of my forearm. The lapels were also in the same dark grey, and had piping of three lines of fine silver grey ornaments in them, down to the waistline, in the cuffs, and the collar. The trousers were of the same dark gray. On the sleeve of the right upper arm were five fine silver grey stripes embodied. The captain's insignia. I looked… powerful.

As I stepped out of the cabin, I was startled to see my four friends waiting for me in the hallway. More startling was their appearance. They also were clad in officers' uniforms, same as mine, only had on their jackets just two lines of silver grey piping, and their sleeves had four lines instead of my five on the right upper arm. I had to smile. They looked nothing like the boy-terrorists we were once, or the sleep-ruffled young men we were half an hour before. They were truly officers of a battleship.

I looked around and nodded. Taking a half step backwards, I turned, and we marched down the hallway to the mess together.

The doors opened in front of us as I palmed the pad, and the noise stopped abruptly. All faces were turned towards us as we made our entry. I stopped and looked around, taking a deep breath.

"This ship is about to enter a combat situation. We will leave Earth's orbit shortly," I said. "If you do not want to engage in battle, there will be a shuttle to take you back to Earth, leaving within the hour. This includes preventer agents, sweepers and Maganacs. Everyone who decides to stay has to be aware that there will be no backing out. You have been informed of the risks at your original briefings. If this ship returns, it will only be after we have defeated the Xetoins. It may not return at all. Everyone who decides to leave can do so without shame. The only demand I have is to keep this ship a secret, until the government of the UES decides otherwise."

There were murmurs among the men and woman.

Quatre stepped in. "The shuttles will leave in one hour. Everyone who wants to leave has to go now. I suggest that anyone who stays, get your affairs in order. Any messages you want to send home can be sent with the shuttle. We will have no communication with Earth except for emergencies. No more chatting over the vid lines."

A few of the sweepers chose to leave, but I knew that they were only here to make repairs anyway. I was surprised that most of them stayed. A few Preventer agents also wanted to leave, as did the government representatives, and Une, of course. I waved them aside, and waited for the crowd to clear out.

I turned to find Une watching the crowd. "Bethor discovered five unidentified objects, moving in thedirection of Earth." I took a deep breath. "I want Commander Wright gone. I don't trust him to follow our plans. I can't deal with his shit."

Une looked thoughtful. "Someone has to have…"

I shook my head. "We've established that they were only here as an ally of the UES to me and my ship. They are in my territory. We have a short chain of command here. It allows flexibility and one more figurehead complicates itall. Chang can do it. We'll have to improvise, I'm sure of that. Une, you know how we work."

She grimaced.

"Duo," Relena said, grabbed my upper arm, and looked at Blonski and the others. "We'll take him with us. We know what you, what you all, sacrifice. Every one who decides to stay. I remember the wars. I know if anything can save Earth, it will be this ship, its weapons and its crew."

"We have no other option," one of the other representatives said. "The planet has no other defense."

"Exactly," Relena said and had yet to let go of my arm. "We know that. And we are thankful." She leaned in, pressed a kiss to my cheek, and whispered, "Thank you, Duo. And take care of Heero."

I blinked and stared at her. Whoa. What was that? How did she know? "Will do," was all I could stammer out.

She laughed and waved as they left the mess.

-----

tbc

() http:www.dassonnensystem.de/bilder/galaxy.gif  
(if someone is interested in the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy…)


	10. Shekinah

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee  
Archive: Dacia's site at raygunworks. net  
Pairing: 1x2, 4x3  
Rating: NC-17  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them; used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.

Notes: Several years after the wars, the pilots have grown apart. When they meet again under unusual circumstances and an impending new war, will they be able to fight again, together?

**Future of the Past**

**# 10 – ****Shekinah**

**(Liberating Angel)** A female angel of liberation and freedom. Always  
close to humankind, Shekinah inspires mortals to be just and fair. Some  
believe that she is the female part of creation, the feminine aspect of the  
Creator. She is especially healing of body, mind and spirit. Who delivers the  
world in all ages. She is very close to mankind and is never separated from the just

-----------------

We saw the civilians off and decided to adjourn to our quarters. There really was nothing left to do other than wait for the shuttles to return. Then we would set an intercepting course for the Xetoins. In stealth mode.

I still wasn't over the unexpected attention I had gotten from Relena. We weren't especially acquainted. There were only one or two times during the war, when she had chased after Heero, that we had met. Okay, I had saved her life once, but that was so long ago… I wondered where her faith in me had come from. And then there was that folder she had waved around during that debate with the big shots. It seems that she had kept tabs on us.

"Heero?" I snuggled deeper into his embrace and adjusted my head on his shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"What were you and Relena talking about?"

He was quiet for a while. "You. She asked me about you. And us."

"Why?"

He sighed. "Look. She knew. I mean about me, us. Ahh…" he lifted a hand and raked it through his hair. "I told her, you know? Back then."

"Explain."

"After the kidnapping incident with Mariemeia, remember?"

"Hmm." I slowly drew circles on his chest with my fingertips.

"She came to the hospital. She wanted... something more than just friendship. I told her I wasn't interested, because… and that I was in love with a guy. You."

"You told her? Just like that?"

"No," he chuckled. "Not _just_ like that. But she was rather… demanding. And I was pretty down at the time, you know? You'd gone back to Hilde… and the diagnosis… and I…"

"So you had a heart to heart with her."

"You could say that. Although, she had to… pry the words out of me."

"I can imagine," I sighed. "So she knew, the whole time."

"Yes."

"And she kept tabs on me."

"Not too intensive, but yes. I mean, it wasn't so in depth that someone would have discovered that Hilde and you weren't…" He paused. " She kept tabs on the others, too."

"And you?"

He shook his head. "I slipped through her net intentionally. I was in hiding. You guys were not."

"Oh." I was quiet for a while. "So, they all knew about you... but me. Relena, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei." I couldn't help sounding a little harsh about it.

Heero came up and leaned on his elbow, looking at me earnestly. "Only Relena knew at the time. The others only found out after I came to stay with Quatre. At the time, I thought I was going to die. I _was_ dying." He got a faraway look in his eyes, no longer looking at me. "And they cared. They were together, Quatre and Trowa. I couldn't hide my feelings. I was… jealous of what they had. Quatre felt it." Heero closed his eyes. "At first, he thought I was jealous of one of them. I… I had a breakdown. I told him everything. And then Quatre's informants said that you were seen on the Luna station. Quatre tried calling you then. And then we saw the news, about your ship. We knew there had to be something big going on, since he couldn't get a hold of you..."

I gnawed at my lower lip. Okay. I could understand that.

"…I wanted so badly to see you again, one last time…" He took a deep breath.

"Hey," I reached up and cupped his cheek in my hand. "It's okay, you're okay, now. We're okay."

He nodded, "I know." He leaned down and kissed me. "I know." And then he was the one who snuggled and laid his head on my chest, an arm thrown over my waist.

But it wasn't okay, and he knew, and I knew.

---

Maybe it was fate. This lover of mine had really creepy hunches, sometimes.

We sat on the bridge and stared at the screens, going over the specs. We were racing through our solar system on an intercepting course with the Xetoins. We had five days.

I looked to Heero and noticed how tense he looked. "What is it, Heero?"

"It doesn't feel right."

"What doesn't feel right?" Wufei asked.

"I don't know. Something." He wetted his lips. "If they really come out of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy…" Heero trailed off as his eyes narrowed. "When does the invasion take place? In April?"

"They're too small to travel such a distance. They would require a base of some sort," Trowa said.

Heero hesitated. "Yes."

"There must be a carrier somewhere," I said, feeling dread creeping up on me.

"Or more," Wufei said.

"Their Galaxy is supposed to collapse." Quatre typed rapidly at the controls and scanned the monitors. "If your world was going to go under, what would you do if you had the technical capabilities?"

"Go and search for a new one," Heero said. "That's it. The Milky Way is the next Galaxy to them. They're out to colonize."

"It's not like we're the only Solar system. There are two hundred billion stars in the Milky Way," I said. "If I could, I'd flood the Galaxy with scout ships. Every ship would search a grid area. If they are somehow in contact…"

"This is not good," Wufei sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. "About how many carriers are we talking about?"

I shrugged.

"We have to destroy the carrier first," Quatre said. "If they lose contact with all of the scouts at once, they'll know something is up. They could send reinforcements. Every ship they have would be on alert."

"What if the carrier vanishes suddenly?" Heero asked. "They'll still investigate."

"Shit." I raked my hand through my bangs. "Another unknown factor. We need to know exactly what were going up against before we can do anything."

Quatre nodded. "We will ignore the five scouts for now. We have to go against the carrier. We'll gather info, just like they're doing."

"Do you know what you're saying?" Wufei replied. "You want to go against a ship which has crossed thousands of light-years, without knowing what kind of technology you are facing or what kind of resistance we'll be met with."

"You have a better plan?" I asked.

Wufei shook his head. "No," He sighed. "No. Sadly, I do not."

Heero smirked. "We could split up."

"No way," I said, glaring at him. "Bethor, deepen scan. Raster near infrared and multi object spectrometer observation. Direction Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy."

"Scanning." Bethor replied.

"Bethor, is there anything in your database about a carrier or a mother ship of the Xetoins?"

"Negative."

I bit my lip. We were really going deep into unknown territory here. We were _really_ lucky that the Xetoins knew nothing about stealth technology. Bethor's data had revealed that to us. They knew nothing about our little surprise in the form of our battleship. But we had to drop stealth for battle. "Fuck." I murmured.

---

"Holy fucking shit."

I gaped at the screen. Bethor had indeed detected a ship. But it wasn't just a ship. It was a fucking monster. Our colonies were like mosquitos against it. No wonder it could produce an endless stream of ships to make war against the Earth. And the alien ship was slowly moving along the Orion arm of our Galaxy see link last ch.. Closing in to the position of our sun.

We had let the five scouts go, and hovered just at the border of our solar system. We had spent the last two weeks learning as much as Bethor could provide about the alien technology, and their communications systems. We decided to infiltrate.

But now, as I saw the dimensions of this monstrosity, I was getting a bit nervous. How the hell could we realize our plans against something like that?

I swallowed. "Well," I drawled, "David against Goliath, huh?"

Quatre's face was closed, his chin stubbornly jutted forward and his lips pressed together in a thin line.

"How long until we could be in rendezvous position?" Trowa asked, face expressionless.

"One month and seventeen days under stealth at inter stellar speed," Bethor answered. "Theoretically, three days and eighteen hours at outer stellar speed, uncloaked."

"Whaddaya mean, outer stellar speed?" I asked, perplexed. I didn't know anything about such a thing.

"I used my inactive status for research. Necessary modifications were made during the repairs of my drives," Bethor stated.

I raised an eyebrow. "You did what?"

"I enhanced the efficiency of my drives. However, calculations showed use of enhanced speed in the solar system is not an option. The energy level necessary results in an inability to activate the other systems. Stealth and weapons are not available during outer stellar speed."

"You did this all by yourself? And you didn't think to mention this before?" I asked, aghast.

"Yes."

"Explain yourself," I demanded.

"This is the first time I have been outside the solar system. I mentioned it now, as it is relevant. I am to strive for the success of my mission. I am an AI. I am able to learn from human actions. I learned from you as you learned from me. I had five Earth years alone to increase my efficiency."

"Any other surprises you haven't told me about?" I asked.

"Negative." Bethor replied.

"Good to know," I murmured. My ship can keep secrets. Wonderful.

Quatre's eyes caught my gaze. He was plotting something. I just knew it.

"What are the chances that this enhanced drive will work?" He asked.

"Eighty-seven point eight three percent." Bethor answered.

"And what if it does not?" Wufei asked.

"Eight point two one percent for the failure of the entire drive system, three point nine six percent for the destruction of the ship."

I pursed my lips. It didn't sound entirely bad. But… "You simulated this?"

"Yes."

"It will work," Heero said.

"But…" Wufei started.

Heero shook his head. "We have to use the speed. If the scouts go back to their base ship, they will inform the other base ships. And if those do not discover better suited Solar systems, and we know there aren't any similar to ours, they will come here and…"

Quatre nodded. "We will have to approach from another direction. I think we should first set course to Proxima Centauri. We'll go cloaked during the first week of travel at inter stellar speed." He tapped at his chin. "They likely won't take notice of us if we start out uncloaked and in the open, but they will monitor Solar systems for movement."

He turned and looked at the star charts displayed on another screen. "This way, we won't tip them off as to exactly which solar system we are coming from. We have to assume that they have sent scouts to other solar systems in this quarter. Halfway to Proxima Centauri we set course to the carrier itself. Stop, attack, cloak and dodge. They will send out ships in search for us. We will capture one of them and use it to infiltrate and blow them to hell." He looked pleased with his plan.

"What if they inform other carriers?" I asked him.

"They won't, at first." Heero answered. "Even if they do, we just have to stop the next one that comes this way." He was back to staring at the screen. "They won't see us as a big threat, small as we are. And they will want to know where we came from, first. They'll want to capture and interrogate us so that they all can close in on the right solar system all at once."

"Yeah, right," I said, blowing my bangs out of my face. "Easy."

Quatre shrugged. "Anybody have a better plan?"

I huffed and looked at the others. Wufei sat, thoughtful. Trowa looked as if he had accepted this plan the moment Quatre had stopped speaking.

Heero studied the screen, brows furrowed. "We'll have to attack from several points out and then vanish again. Lure them out so they will send out more ships. It is better to capture two ships, just in case."

I blinked at him.

"The Gundams," he continued, "we'll have to use them separately."

"You are aware that a Gundam, against this carrier, is like a mosquito against an elephant?" I asked him.

"Just against the small ships. We'll have to destroy as much as possible, so they won't notice a couple of them missing before we dodge out again." He clarified.

"Oh," I nodded. "Sounds okay to me."

Wufei sighed. "We have twenty Maganacs and five Gundams. Five groups against how many?"

"We will need every pilot available," Quatre said, "If only for backup. We don't know how good they'll be if their opponents are at full ability. The pilots cannot be vulnerable to the Xetions' mind games. That means they all have to take the serum."

Trowa shrugged. "We retreat and use stealth as soon as we have the two of their ships. If they can't track us down, they can't fight against us."

I looked around. Everyone agreed with curt nods of acceptance and I ordered Bethor to set course to Proxima Centaurus.

-----

_Waves roll softly against the beach. I lay back on my elbows in the warm sand, and let the sunshine warm my face. It's peaceful. I hear the sound the surf rolling in, and gulls in the distance lull me into a peaceful rest. A movement beside me makes me open my eyes, and I smile and turn my head to look at my love. But it isn't Heero I find at my side. I start violently, and my heart skips a beat. An old, wrinkled, Xetoin stares back at me. _

_Under its patches of white fur, its skin is brown like old leather and its mouth stretches over big yellow teeth. White, long, strands of sparse hair hang from his head. The figure, crouches beside me on the sun-warmed sand, almost looking like a long dead corpse, withered and wrinkled. Fear runs through me, then anguish. I hastily scramble backwards, away from it, terrified. I try to catch me breath. My mouth opens in a frightening scream, but nothing comes out._

"_You next." It says in a rusty, scratchy voice, coming slowly, so slowly, after me, "you're the only one left." I whip my head around in search of my lover. Heero lies a few feet away, gut ripped wide open and his insides turned out. Blood is everywhere. He is facing me, eyes wide open, lifeless and glassy and staring at nothing. _

_Despair shoots through me. Horrible anguish. A bit further away lay the remnants of my friends. Trowa. Quatre. Wufei. Howard. Slaughtered. I am petrified. I cannot move. The grotesque figure comes closer and closer._

_It reaches out to me with claw like limbs, and finally I find my voice. I scream. _

"_No." Not Heero. Not them. _

"_No." Not now. How dare it take Heero from me. _

"_No." I squeeze my eyes shut, and darkness spills through me. I turn my head back to face the creature, and I feel the one thing that is left in me. Deep hatred, and rage, wild fury, this need for its death. _

"_No." I open my eyes and the Xetoin recoils slightly, just for a moment, before it comes at me again. _

"_No." I was unnaturally calm suddenly, as if the fury and the hatred had taken root deep inside of me, became everything what I was. _

"_Die," I hiss, and direct my rage at it, lashing out at it with my fury, and the Xetoin screams. The sound reminds me of the sound of death, when a cat catches a big bird. It's a shrill and piercing scream, and it literally explodes in a fountain of red. Blood and gore covers me, and I look at the remains. There's a heap of meat, and gore, and bones, and I feel hot tears running down my face between sticky splashes of blood. I stare at the bloody mess. Death. I am Death. I turn my head and stare through blurry eyes at the corpse of my lover, keening out a choked wail. _

"DUO!"

I shot awake with the wail still in my throat, gasping, and noticing that someone was shaking me rather violently.

"Wake up Duo, please."

Heero. Alive. I blinked furiously.

"Duo."

A dream. "He… Heero?" I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dry and my throat scratchy. I was dripping with sweat.

"You scared me." He sighed, and I noticed that he was crouched above, straddling me, his hands on my shoulders in a bruising grip.

"Oww," I said.

He drew back, fingers loosening. "I'm sorry," he said. "I couldn't wake you."

I tried to wet my dry lips with my equally dry tongue. "A nightmare," I rasped out.

"You were screaming," he said, and shifted a hand, stroking my arm up and down. "And you wouldn't wake up." He let go of my shoulder entirely, and rubbed over his face. "I didn't know what to do. Are you okay now?"

"Yeah," I murmured, "I don't know. It was… surreal," I shivered. The dream left some very vivid images in my head. "Let me up."

He shifted aside and I got up, staggering to the bathroom. I opened the tap on coldest setting possible, and ducked my head, drinking directly from the faucet, and splashed water in my face. God, but that dream was terrifying. Closing the tap I reached for a towel, and straightened up, drying my face. I looked up into the mirror as I lowered the towel. I looked awfully pale. Like the dead. No… like Death. I swallowed hard, and took a few deep breaths. It was just a dream, wasn't it? Nothing had happened. Heero was fine. He was here with me. I stood there, leaned on the sink, and stared at my reflection in the mirror.

"Duo?"

I turned my head, startled. Heero had followed me and stood in the doorway, looking somewhat forlorn. "You want to talk about it?" He asked softly.

I shook my head. The last thing I needed now was a verbal reminder of the images of my slaughtered friends, and my slaughtered lover. "No. God, no."

He nodded. "Okay. But if you want to…" he trailed off.

"Yeah," I said. But I didn't know if I could.

-----

"Shit." Standing in the engine section, I stared at the technical sheets displayed on the consoles' screen. Something wasn't right. These modifications of Bethor's engines seemed logically correct, but on the other hand somehow not. There was something I just couldn't put my finger on.

We spent most of our time during our trip to Proxima Centauri in the engine section. We checked everything. Went over the specs. Ran the simulations. I squeezed myself in every available service tube and went over the energy supplies. Everything seemed fine. And I learned more about Bethor's insides than I really wanted to. But it fascinated me, the mix of alien and future human technology.

The percentage rates bugged me. In my book, something worked or it did not. I sure wasn't thrilled about the possibility of an exploding ship or of being stranded with malfunctioning engines. Out here. Far away from anything.

I sighed and kicked the console. I had promised to be in time for dinner. Two more days and we wouldset to turn in the direction of the Xetoins carrier. We were as ready as we could be. The rest of the 'warriors', as Bethor still stubbornly called us, had been injected with the enhancement serum. After they endured the mild sickness the other pilots had had, they had begun training against holo Xetoins. A few of the pilots were still not able to completely build up the mental block. I imagine they were already terrified when they entered the holo suite. But we had to work with what we had. I kicked the console again, and sighed as I turned to make my way to the cantina.

I was late, again, but only by a few minutes. Coming up to our table, I punched Howard lightly on the shoulder and ruffled Quatre's hair. Setting down my plate on the table I slumped down in the chair beside Heero. I grabbed his upper arm, pulled him to me for a short kiss. "Hey."

Howard was telling them a story, and it seemed he was just in the middle of it. I took my fork and shoved a bite of my food in my mouth, listening.

"…and the whole team was already there, waiting for the promised culinary delight he had been telling us about for an entire month. He just finished setting the table when we heard a tremendous explosion. We ran into the kitchen and it was a wreck. Something went wrong with the pressure in his stream cooker. The food was everywhere. I thought he was going to have a heart att…"

"Say again," I interrupted him.

Howard gave a funny look, but repeated, "…food was everyw…"

"No," I waved my fork impatiently through the air. "Before that."

"Something went wrong with the pressure in his stream…"

"That's it!" I cried out. "Oh, I'm such an idiot. Of course." I shoved my chair back and stood up, but Heero grabbed my wrist, pinning it to the table.

"Where do you think you are going?" He asked, tilting his head.

I tugged at my arm, but he didn't let go of me. "I have to…"

"Eat." Trowa finished for me.

"But…" I tried to explain.

"Tomorrow." Quatre said.

Wufei looked from one to the other, seemingly amused. "Maxwell," he said, "if you think you've had an inspiration about what has been bugging you these last few days, you can share it with us, and we'll all see tomorrow if you are right. We will swing wrenches and screw drivers again, but right now we are going to eat."

"But we only have two days..." I protested weakly.

"We can make it three, or four, or more," Quatre said. "It's not that important from where we set course, if we can make sure this invention of Bethor's will actually work without blowing us to pieces."

"Okay." I nodded and sank back in my chair, and began eating again. "It's not the engines," I explained between bites, "or the energy support. It's the lines. The connections. They're supposed to conduct; they're originally interpreted for a ten times more than normal necessary for the ships normal functions. Security measure, y'know?" I took a sip from Heero's water bottle. "But this outer space drive needs a lot more energy. It'll drain the energy support out of everything short of the life support systems. And not only for a short time." I nodded to myself. "Y'know, if just one of those connections burst, we'll have an burn out. Boom. We have to reinforce them. And the lines."

Howard stared at me. "Shit," he said. "Of course."

I grinned at him. "Yeah, old man."

-----

"All systems green," Trowa reported from one of the consoles.

We had made the necessary retrofits. It took us two and a half days to replicate the parts and lines, heavily reinforced, some with gundanium, and install them. But the chances of success increased dramatically. We ran the simulations and Bethor reported a rate of ninety-nine point two six. That sounded much more to our liking.

I had a little time to sneak away and visit the stasis room. I stood in front of two chambers, and held a one sided conversation with my parents. I told them of our improvements made to the ship. I told them about the things that were happening. Then I told them about me. I told them about Heero.

"Y'know," I swirled the end of my braid around my hand, "I never thought someone would love me," I sighed. "But you two did, didn't you? And he does, too. I know. All this time, he did. And I realized that I did too, but was just too blind to see it. Or…"

My com pinged, I ignored it.

"…or I was just afraid to love someone, because I was convinced nobody could love me back. I mean really love me." I shook my head. "If I look back, I see how wrong I was. Solo did love me, and Father Maxwell. And Sister Helen. And, I'm sure, Howard does, too. As do the guys, in their own way. Maybe. Yes, they do. And Heero." I took a deep breath. "I'm scared, y'know? Scared that something might happen to them. Scared to be left behind, again."

My com pinged again. I activated it. "Yes?"

"We're ready to drop out of stealth and change course. You're coming?" Heero asked.

"Yeah. I'm on my way."

I took a last look at my parents and went up to the bridge.

"Everything bolted down?" I asked as I took my seat and closed the harness.

"Yes, captain," the tech answered. "All stations reported in."

After I had a 'go ahead' from the other consoles and a smile from Heero, I nodded. "Okay." There was always that 'zero point seven four percent' risk of a malfunction left, but it was too late to dwell on that now.

I made a ship wide announcement. "Everyone, secure your positions. Prepare for zero gravity, in three, two, one, now. As of now, we have entered combat alert. Estimated contact on site in sixty-one hours. Bethor, go."

The ship shuddered and I stared at the monitor, eyes trained on the blinking point in the middle. I listened inattentively to the words of the crew on the bridge, reporting the status of the ship. My braid was suspended in midair and I absently grabbed at it, and stuffed it in the collar of my t-shirt. It was an odd feeling to be in zero gravity suddenly. But the engines needed all the energy we could spare, and we could do without, for a while.

I glanced around and took in the earnest faces around me, noticing that one tech at his station leaned back in his chair, frustrated. The data on his screen rolled on too fast for a human eye to gather the information. He turned his head to me and shrugged. "I suppose we are on course, but…" he pointed at his screen, "I haven't a clue."

I grinned. It meant we actually had surpassed the speed where, when Bethor displayed his momentary position, it was possible to monitor. It worked. No exploding. No malfunction. Now, if only the rest was this easy.

I glanced at Heero and suddenly had this picture in my mind, of us, suspended in midair, making love in zero gravity. I shook my head, irritated. We hadn't taken that last step, although we'd done everything else short of penetration. Where did that thought come from? I glanced again and saw him, hand suspended in midair to his controls, and licking his lower lip. He turned his head to look at me, and I'd be damned if he wasn't thinking something similar.

"Captain, speed's still rising," A station reported. "Reaching displayable limit."

I tore my eyes from Heero and nodded. "Bethor, any indication that we've been spotted so far?"

"Negative." The AI reported.

"Just a matter of time," Trowa said. "They will notice an object on an intercepting course with them."

"Yeah," I answered. "Proceed."

They would notice early enough that Death was coming their way.

-----

tbc


	11. Simikiel

Sorry it took so long to type up this part, but RL was a bitch until Christmas… and thank you all for reading and the comments I got from all of you for this not-so-quite-AU-SciFi-fantasy. Ahem. Here we go:

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: Dacia's site at   
and also Calic0cat's at   
Pairing: 1x2, 4x3  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them; used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.

Notes: The threads of time have been altered and the Duo that every one knew isn't what he seems to be. After the EW, the pilots walked out of each other lives, but now a great danger looms. They are back together again... this time maybe even a bit closer. Will Duo's secret be the key to their survival?

Thanks to Sakusha's betaing (normally I'd have to announce her as co-writer) it flows much better than originally, and thanks to Ellimaru there are some of my embarrassing mistakes gone now...

* * *

Future of the Past 

**# 11 - Simikiel **

Angel which grants destruction, vengeance, and punishment.  
Only if deserved. Don't ask for help unless you are in the right.  
Otherwise, it comes back at you threefold.

-----

The proximity alarms shrilled endlessly and the entire ship was on code red. I was on my way to the bridge. Pushing away from the wall, I glided straight to the door.

It was a great thing, to be weightless. To move without the assistance of gravity. It takes experience to know when you have enough momentum: too much, and there're the inevitable injuries; too little, and you find yourself floating somewhere in the middle of some room. A couple of our more inexperienced crew members had to be rescued on occasion from being left helpless, suspended in midair, like a stranded fish.

Holding onto the handrail, I keyed the pad and the door slid open. The vision that greeted me left me gaping. The monitor was filled with the sight of one Xetoin carrier. Whew. What a ship. But what had triggered the proximity alarms was not the carrier, which was still too far away, but the twenty-one smaller ships, seven groups of three, closing in on us. Fighter ships. We'd been discovered earlier than I had anticipated, and the Xetoins sent a welcome committee. I had hoped that we'd get a little closer to the carrier before that happened.

"Bethor, kill the noise and drop out of outer stellar speed," I ordered. "How long until contact?"

"Thirty-seven minutes," the AI answered.

"Reinstate gravity slowly," I ordered. "Zero point one g every ten seconds." Then I made the announcement over the ship wide speakers for the crew to prepare for gravity.

It was an odd sensation, to feel the tug of gravity at your body. I loved the free-floating feeling of zero-g, but our personal reaction time would be severely hampered if left in that state.

I sighed, as I felt my feet steady on the floor, and then activated my com, 'Trowa, Heero to your Gundams. Take eight of the Maganacs with you. We have company. Twenty-one tangos. Drop out cloaked. Backup Bethor only as needed. I want to see how much damage my battle ship can do on its own.'

'Roger that,' Trowa answered.

"Weapon stations attention," I turned to the men at their stations. "Fire up our defenses."

"Com transmission from the outside," Bethor announced.

"Let's hear it," I grinned fiercely. Bethor opened the speakers to the communication port and all of us were holding our breath, waiting to hear what these monsters sounded like. A series of chirping sounds, grumbles and whistles were heard throughout the bridge.

"Bethor, can you translate that?"

"You are conquered. Do not resist." It was odd, to hear such a message in the voice of our own AI. I laughed wildly.

"The Hell we are," I called out, "a little full of yourself, aren't you? We'll see who gets the better of whom. Conquered, my ass."

'Ready to drop out.' Heero reported over the com.

'Go. We've already been declared a conquered race.'

'Is that so?' came his response, in a grave tone.

I chuckled darkly and walked over to one of the two pilot stations. I gave the crewman a little pat on the shoulder and said, "I'll take over." He stood up, and I took the empty seat. "Okay. Let's see what you got here, Bethor. Show me how good you are."

-----

Gritting my teeth, I shook my head in disbelief. This was so _not_ working. "What incompetent bastard programmed you to make those moves?" I muttered. Bethor made another ineffective evading maneuver, and the enemy landed yet another hit on our outer hull.

As the Xetoin fighters had reached firing distance, they began their assault. At the same time, they initiated their mind attack. I felt it weighing down on me, the pressure of fear, but I gritted my teeth and shook it off. The techs on the bridge got rather pale. They were cowering and shaking like leaves. A few were crouched on the ground, at the feet of their consoles. One lost his lunch.

"Howard," I shouted over the com, "I need immune crew members on the bridge, _now_."

Quatre turned to me, his mouth turned into a feral grin, eyes bright blue, and I knew that he was okay. This face I knew only too well. Xetoins, watch out.

"In three," Howard responded.

"Better be," I muttered. I had enough. So far, Bethor had made no progress. The ship showed no real offensive responses and its defensive techniques were substandard. We'd taken several hits already. I was starting to worry about the hull withstanding the enemy's fire. The Xetoin ships, maybe a tenth of Bethor's size, were swarming around us like mad hornets.

"Crap. What kind of moron programmed you?" I yelled as we were hit again. "Useless bastard."

'Ready to engage,' Heero told me over the com, 'what are you doing there?'

'Negative,' I ground out, 'and I'm doing fucking _nothing_, yet. It's Bethor. Some incapable tactical nimrod programmed Bethor with stupid fucking standard evasive moves.'

I could hear Trowa chuckle softly. 'Then do something about it.'

"Yeah," I said out loud. I turned to see my new bridge crew, three Preventers and two Maganacs, enter the bridge. They wasted no time replacing the others, and taking up their new positions. "On it. Watch me. Bethor, enable manual control." My fingers flew over the controls and we evaded a new hit. "Time you learn something from the best."

I heard a double snort over the com.

"What?" I asked, feigning hurt. "I'm not?"

I narrowed my eyes as I palmed the controls. The ship turned, dove and made a roll. "Wufei, Quatre, weapons control at your service. Fire at will. Bethor, watch and learn."

It was like playing one of my video games. Only bigger and a hell of a lot more real. In this game, if I lost we would all be dead. I initiated a wide curve and came back at one of the groups of three, head-on. The guys fired out a series of shots. As soon as they fired, I pulled the ship upwards and made a loop to evade the enemy at our back. I could see two of the earlier targets explode, just on the outer edge of the screen. I whooped. The weapons seemed to be more effective in the hands of someone who new how to use it. On our downward turn, the guys got off a second series of well placed shots.

Bethor had a high maneuverability and was astonishingly light to handle despite the size of the ship. Of course it was no shuttle or suit, but I was a hell of a good pilot. I missed the vibrating, feeling the crescendo of the engines, and the sensation of being one with the ship as I had it with my Ezgadi or with my Deathscythe. I missed the direct grip on the stick. There was little, almost no delay in the ship's reaction time, but it was there.

I learned to compensate rather quickly. I hit the controls, and the ship dodged, avoiding a clash with one of the enemies. A little too close for my liking. Quatre and Wufei fired as soon as they got a target. We worked together like instruments in an orchestra, each playing its part flawlessly. I was proud.

The guys landed a barrage of steady hits. I dove Bethor through the debris to the middle of two groups of Xetoins and hit the breaking thrusters. At the same time, I fired the jets and dove, dipping the ship's nose. Enemy shots went wild; three of their six were hit by friendly fire. I cackled. Seven down from twenty-one.

Again, we went on the attack. They were slow learners. Instead of splitting off, they chose to stay in formation. We fired left and center, both ships exploding. The ship on the right was hit by debris, and never had a chance.

This new weapon of the future wasn't just effective, but fucking fantastic.

I watched in morbid fascination as the ships exploded on our monitors. When a ship took a hit, it would burn from the inside out, and you could see the glowing shine of fire though the breaks in the hull; like a spider's web, but only for a split second. And then it breaks apart in a fiery explosion. The fire is sucked out by the vacuum of space instantly, and the remaining debris flies apart like colorless fireworks. On the infrared screens, the bits were still plain to see. The material hot from the heat of the explosion, but rapidly cooling in space. Fireworks, indeed.

I was truly in battle mode. Deep in concentration, I took in their positions, calculated their trajectory and reacted instinctively, without hesitation. It was over surprisingly fast. At last, with only four of them left, they fled.

"I am detecting seventy-five new fighter ships leaving the carrier," Bethor reported, "Intercepting in approximately thirty-three hours on current course and speed."

I slumped back in my seat, my battle induced adrenaline high starting to fade, and brought Bethor into a neutral position. 'Heero, Tro, come back and dock.' I said over the com, 'We'll drop into stealth and they won't be the wiser.'

'Confirmed' they both replied.

"Bethor, hyper-jammers online," I ordered. "Stealth as soon as our suits are back on board. Report of damages on screen. Howard, send out repair teams."

"Aye, Captain," he answered.

Within minutes all of our suits were reported in and we were in stealth. On our monitor, we watched as the newcomers, still more than a day away, faltered. Their radar equipment was no match for our cloaking device. They were hesitant to set a course and seemed to swarm, looking for a definite target. Apparently confused, and probably unwilling to fly such a distance for something they could not find, they simply gave up and headed back to the carrier.

I grinned. Our stealth capabilities worked beautifully. I had wanted to be a bit closer to the carrier before we made first contact, but we were still in a good position to make our plans work. We altered our course, heading to them at a different angle than we had before.

Almost a day and a half left, at highest inter stellar speed, and cloaked. We would use the time for repairs and for further training of the Preventers, in dealing with the Xetoins.

The door opened and Trowa strode in, Heero on his heels. I grinned as Tro made a beeline to Quatre, leaned down, and kissed him deeply. Talk about stress relief. Heero stepped behind me and laid his hands on my shoulders. "You all did well," he whispered, his tongue tickling my ear. I shuddered, tying to remember I was supposed to be finishing course corrections.

Yeah, stress relief, indeed. I think my face almost split in two, so big was my smile.

-----

"Come on," Heero gripped my arm as he steered me out of the gym. "Let's go to the bar."

I looked at him, wondering if I had heard correctly. Since when was Heero _this_ eager for drunk-indulging, noise-intensive activities?

We had trained on weights and then sparred, until Heero unexpectedly declared an end. After a quick shower he hastily dressed and waited, pacing impatiently, for me to finish my braid.

"What's the hurry?" I asked, amused, "you need a drink that bad?"

He looked at me and opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again and shook his head. He turned and strode along the hallway in direction of the holo suites. I stumbled to catch up with him.

"Hey! Wait up," I called, and broke in a light jog after him. "What's the matter with ya?"

He didn't answer, but stopped in front of the holo suite declared as our 'bar'. As he palmed the pad the door opened, and loud voices, shouts, and whistles flooded towards us. We stood in the doorway, bewildered.

There was a crowd of almost impenetrable bodies massing in a circle near the center of the bar. From what I could understand from the shouting, there was a fight going on. We pushed through the thick packed crowd, and stopped as we reached the edge of the circle. Talk about Heero's hunches.

Two people circled each other. From what I could see, it was one of the sweepers and a Preventer. Their faces shone with rage. The bulky sweeper had a knife in his hand, a bloody smear on his lip, and a deadly look in his eyes. I blinked, stunned, and then got annoyed. These _idiots_.

"Stop it!" I called out, but my voice was swallowed by all the noise.

I went from annoyed to angry. Turning my head to look at Heero beside me, I flicked my eyes to the Preventer and back. He nodded. He was ready to intervene. Okay. We had to separate them. As if we didn't have enough problems on hand, now this. And nobody else here in the 'bar' thought to intervene. Idiots, all of them. I took a step forward, Heero at my side, into the empty space between the eager crowd and the fighters. I fumed. The noise died down a little as they noticed us, but the two fighters hadn't become aware of us yet. Or they didn't care.

I decided one last time to try a verbal intervention, before we would go in and stop them physically.

"Stop it, you fucking idiots," I shouted, enraged. I concentrated on trying to get their attention, feeling like I could kill them myself. Bloody assholes.

The sweeper cried out, blood gushed from his nose, and he dropped to his knees; the knife clattered as it fell to the floor. The Preventer agent staggered, hands pressed to his head. He stared at me in horror.

I blinked. Talk about effective. The room was suddenly very quite. Not a single noise was heard. My eyes on the fallen sweeper, I took two steps forward, and knelt down in front of him. He was disoriented, unresponsive. I hissed, as I looked in his eyes. The white of his eyes were interspersed with small bursts of blood vessels, and his pupils wide and dilated.

"Bring him to medical," I said absently, and stood, taking a step back. Turning, I narrowed my eyes at the Preventer, who scrambled away from me, falling on his ass. He had a cloth pressed against his bloody nose and he was staring at me. He looked… frightened. "You too. Let Sally Po take a look." I was confused as to why he would look at me like that. It's not like I hit the man. What the hell was his problem?

He nodded and got up, staggered, and someone took his shoulder and led him out, following the others who had already left with the catatonic sweeper. Something was wrong. The way he didn't take his eyes off me until the last moment, his eyes wide and scared. Why the hell had he looked at me like that? And the reaction they had at my shout, so… severe. I stood and contemplated it. The sweeper had dropped to the floor all of a sudden, without someone taking a hit at him. And the busted blood vessels…I was puzzled.

Looking up I saw that Heero, too, was looking at me. Then his eyes flicked around, taking in the stunned people around us. "No fights on this ship," he addressed the crowd. "You'll get your share earlier than you like." He grabbed my arm, and dragged me out of the holo suite, into the hallway.

He stopped, leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. "You… were angry," He stated.

I nodded.

"Very?"

I nodded again. What was he up to?

He pursed his lips, face inscrutable. "Has… anything like that happened before?"

I raised my eyebrows, questioning. "Like… what?"

He shrugged, looked down to the floor. "Did you notice the way that agent looked at you? He was… afraid." He shot me a glance from under his bangs. "Afraid of you."

"I…" I nodded again, contemplating the occurrence. "Yeah. I noticed."

He looked up at me and tilted his head. "Why, when you were only shouting? Did you do anything else?"

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean anything else? You were right there. I just… yelled at them."

Heero pushed off from the wall, nodding. "Okay." He began to walk away, just like that. As if we haven't had the strangest conversation just a moment ago.

I stood and looked, bewildered, after him.

-----

The freight area was like a madhouse. The alarms shrilled and people ran around like crazy. We were in close proximity of the Xetoin carrier. Time to make trouble. I zipped my spacesuit closed, and locked the seals while I oversaw the chaos.

'Howie, everything clear?' I asked over my com unit.

'Ready to rock 'n roll,' he answered.

I nodded. He was sitting on the bridge, overseeing Bethor's attack on the enemy. He had done well while commanding Peacemillion, he would do well here. Besides, I was in contact with Bethor and could intervene, if necessary. 'Just don't ram the carrier,' I joked.

I could hear the amusement in his tone as he answered with a few swear words. Laughing, I climbed up the catwalk to Deathscythe Hell II and slid into the seat. I powered up the systems and oversaw the diagnostics as the screens came online. Fitting the headset on, I opened the channels to my comrades. In the divided screen, I could see them sitting in their own Gundams. "Hey," I said softly, "let's kick ass."

Wufei tipped his head with a small bow, and Quatre grinned devilishly. Trowa gave a short nod and Heero just looked at me. _Be safe_, his look said. I smiled at him and gave him a wink, before I put on my helmet.

I felt more than heard the docking claws release my Gundam and I took a step forward, waiting for Quatre's command. "Oh-three, out and take position," his voice came over the com. Quatre would command the attack. I would be the fallback for Bethor, if Howie had problems.

Heavyarms came out of his position and walked towards the opened freight doors. I snickered as he gave a careless wave with his giant hand over his shoulder before the jets fired and he jumped out and cloaked at the same time. Show off.

Next was Altron and then Wing, then Sandrock, and I was the last one in my buddy. We each had eighteen suits as backup. At the time we had plotted this out, it seemed overkill, but then we still were under the impression we only had to fight a few Xetoins within our solar system. Now, I wished we had more pilots for the suits stored in the hangars. We had to play hide and seek and fall back on our old terrorist ways. Sneaky and invisible. Poke and run. No sense in a full out confrontation. We would lose it, without doubt. We had to do recon, first.

I fired up my jets and set course to my designated position. The other screens showed only empty space beside the carrier, but the tactical screen showed colored dots, the positions of our suits displayed by Bethor from our com units. Wouldn't do if we smacked into our comrades while cloaked.

'Zero five in position and ready,' Wufei reported.

'Hold.' Quatre responded, and I checked the screens. It would start soon. I took in the sight of the carrier in front of me as I glided alongside of it, searching for weak spots. The enemy's ship was formed from hexagons, almost round in its allover design, like a small moon. There were no observation windows visible; it was one smooth surface. I wanted to see the inside. I was curious about the design. About the drives. About its strengths, about its weaknesses. The mechanic in me was fascinated. I shook my head sharply. No, not now. I would get my chance. And then we would blow it to hell.

One after another they called in on their positions, and finally Quatre ordered the attack. Bethor uncloaked and fired a rapid series of shots aimed at the middle of the carrier. Then our ship pulled up, gliding along the carrier, taking random shots. It was astonishing to see the effect of Bethor's weapons. While the data of Bethor's archives had showed almost no effect on the Xetoin's fighter ships in former battles, and 'normal' weapons of the earth troops of the future, now there was.

Apparently, the carrier wasn't designed for battle. There was no resistance, no answering fire to Bethor's attack.

I watched as hexagons dented, and then broke at the seams under the impact, but overall the damage was minimal. Maybe if there were more like Bethor…

But then a few hexagons slid inwards, and swarms of ships emerged from the carrier. I counted fifty-one of them, emerging from the depths of the carrier, just from the one opening nearest to me. My God. How many of them were in there? A wave of fear swept over me, as they passed my position - unaware of our small squadron of cloaked suits - in the direction of Bethor. I shook my head and concentrated, teeth clenched, mentally sinking down into my battle psyche, and the fear receded.

'Go.' Quatre's command came over the com, and I maneuvered my Gundam in position over the opening. I uncloaked and fired a missile into the opening before I fired up the Verniers, and ripped my suit around. I felt already adrenaline pulsing through my veins as I closed in at the enemies' back. Aiming at the nearest group of three, I fired a few well placed shots in rapid succession in their backs.

They didn't stand a chance. A feral grin crossed my face, and I ruthlessly maneuvered through the debris, trusting the gundanium to withstand the bits of metal. I dodged enemy fire and returned it. We danced in space, my buddy and I. I whooped and cursed; dodged shots and spiraled away, closed in and circled, dove and rose up on them, all the time firing.

I took a quick glance at the monitor. The enemy's advantage was in numbers, but we were faster, more agile, and far better pilots. They were losing numbers rapidly. We had been right. Without the Xetoin's mental advantage, they weren't half that good. But it wasn't enough, not yet. I fired up the jets again, and dove in the middle of another firefight. I powered up my scythe. I wanted to get close up and personal. I was on the hunt again.

-----

After powering down the system and ripping off my helmet, I slumped down in my chair. I was drenched in sweat and my bangs were glued to my forehead, but I couldn't get the wild smile off my face. Holding up my shaking hands, I stared at them. I had to take a few deep breaths, willing my body to calm down. My throat hurt and felt scratchy.

I knew I had been almost out of control. The memory of the battle was a blur after I had thrown my suit in the thick of enemy, the scythe my weapon of choice.

I had sliced through metal with it in wide arcs, wedged and cut, and fired without mercy. I remembered grabbing part of the jets of one ship and smashing them with the fist of my Gundam. While cackling like a lunatic, I threw it away towards the others. The explosion was magnificent.

I remembered shouting at them to go to hell, cursing them in my rage, and directing my full fury at them while I swung the scythe. I know I received a few hits. The harnesses held me in place while I shook like a rag doll. But my buddy had been true, the gundanium protecting me from the worst.

I don't know how many times Quatre called out to me before I heard his command, to cloak and disengage. I think he called out my name, too, somewhere in there, but I was too high on the battle to notice. I came to my wits, realizing that two more waves of fighters were being released from the carrier. Oh, right. We just wanted to lure them out. Capture two ships and disengage. Time to run and hide.

I had fired up my engines, dodging through the thick of enemy and debris. Bethor had already cloaked. I did the same. Hovering on the edge of the battlefield, I observed floating debris and damaged ships. The still functioning ones heedlessly searching for us, before they eventually made their way back to the carrier.

Heavily exhaling, I let my hands fall down in my lap. The shaking had gone down, the adrenaline worn off. Opening the hatch I ripped off the headset and secured it in its place, before I stepped out and grabbed the cable, gliding down to the floor. We had fought a battle but the war was far from over.

I stood at the foot of my Gundam, grinning like a maniac. Glancing at the other four, I found them looking none the worse for wear. Heero came towards me, his eyes boring into mine, and I checked automatically for injuries. He had a data reader in his hand. "Status?" he asked me.

"Clear." I answered automatically, while my eyes tracked the other three, too, leaving the freight room. Quatre turned and gave me a thumbs up, while he took three steps backwards before he turned back again. I saluted at him, before looking back at Heero as he stood in front of me. "Status?" I asked softly.

He smiled, as he took a step into my personal space, leaning forward. "Clear," He murmured and I could feel his breath on my cheek.

I tilted my head and he kissed me softly. "Good. The others, too?"

He nodded, and stepped back. "We've lost seven pilots," he stated, "suits included. Twenty-one suits damaged, but reparable. Eight pilots in medical, nothing fatal from what I understand."

I bit my lip on the sudden sadness and blinked. "The Xetoins?" I quietly asked him.

"One hundred eighty-six destroyed, two captured, although damaged. Bethor scanned twenty-one ships adrift. Perfectly intact. No life detected, though."

I let out a breath. "Hmm, drifting? How's that? Why would that be?"

"Reason unknown," He eyed me, cautiously. "All of them in your range of action in the battle."

Puzzled, I looked at him. I know my eyes widened, unsure at the implication. "What?"

"The sweepers are picking up one of them, just now," He tilted his head. "Want to come?"

"Yeah, man," I grinned at him. "Can't pass up a chance like this."

-----

The ship was exactly the same as the holo we had used for training. But this ship was real. The only difference was, the crew of Xetoins in this ship were all dead. That would explain the drifting, but not what had killed them. I prodded one of the corpses with the toe of my boot and it rolled over. There were no visible wounds. There had been no sign of mechanical damage either. The ship seemed to be in perfect working order. It was downright creepy.

"What do you think?" I asked and turned to Heero, who had crouched beside other corpse.

He glanced at me, and shook his head. "No outward sign of violence. Maybe… something was wrong with their life support." He shrugged at my alarmed look and stood. "The atmosphere inside the ship was tested before we came in. They didn't detect anything wrong though. Let Sally do an autopsy. Perhaps she can find something."

"'Kay," I sighed. "Would be nice to know what killed them, though."

My com pinged. 'Want to sit in on the interrogations?" Wufei asked.

I looked at Heero, and saw him nodding; he had gotten the same message. "Yeah," I answered, "we're on our way."

As we strode through the hangar, he said, "Perhaps they can tell us why their comrades are dead."

"Hmm," I answered. "Let's snag one of the other drifting ships and ditch the damaged ones. So we can spare ourselves the repairs."

He shrugged. "I already thought of it," and from the line of concentration between his brows, I knew that he had talked with Bethor. Somehow, I was glad to see it. It reassured me that I wasn't alone with all these responsibilities. We all had a significant part in this. All five of us stood in front of the crew as a unit. Although, in Bethor's line of sight, I was half a step more in front than the others. And maybe I was. But the lines had already blurred. I knew if I'd had to go though this alone, without the input of the other four and our brainstorming, we wouldn't have gotten to this stage yet.

I contemplated all this as we made our way through the corridors, nodded absently at some passing crewmembers, confident in Heero's lead. Yeah, sometimes I, too, could completely zone out, trusting my partner to watch the premises. Besides, what could happen here on this ship? Okay, so we've had an insane crewmember out for my blood, but that wasn't the norm. We're all pretty safe here, except when you considered the close proximity of the Xetoins' carrier. But that was another thing altogether. It was a threat to all of us, not to any one of us in particular.

A hand on my shoulder stopped me in mid-stride and threw me out of my thoughts. I blinked, seeing that we had reached our destination. As I turned my head, Heero looked at me with his head slightly tilted, his typical half-smile on his face.

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

"You're completely relaxed," he stated.

I contemplated that. Then, with a smile of my own, I answered. "Yeah. Yeah, I am." And I realized it was true. I hadn't been this relaxed in a long time. "But so are you." And he was too. The way he held himself, his posture, and the set of his shoulders. I could see it in his stance, hips slightly tilted, one leg angled and out of line with the other.

He looked thoughtful. "Maybe it's the battle. We lived through danger," he shrugged, "and I don't feel guilty."

I grinned wryly up at him. "Me neither," I said. Then I grimaced. "Should we feel guilty about not feeling guilty?"

He only shook his head, the half-smile still on his face, as he palmed the pad to the room where Wufei was leading the interrogation. The Xetoin inside tried really hard. The instant the door was opened I felt fear. But I clamped down on it, and stalked into the room, outwardly unaffected. I shot a quick glance to Heero, and he looked fine. Aloof as always. Smirking coldly, I leaned against the wall beside the door, and crossed my arms over my chest. The enemy was seated at the far side of the table, limbs bound, flanked by two Agents. In the middle of the table lay a small cylinder-like device I recognized as a translator.

Wufei sat at the table with his back to me. He was leaning back in his chair; his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. I couldn't see his arms, but I guessed they also were crossed over his chest. Cool as a cucumber. He was the highest ranking official aboard, and was the obvious choice to lead the interrogation.

"Ready when you are," I said.

Wufei threw me a short look over his shoulder before he nodded and addressed the prisoner.

"How many of your race accommodates your ship?" He asked.

The Xetoin looked arrogant, as the translator chirped. It opened its mouth and replied something.

'How can you endure our transmission?' Bethor's voice interpreted.

"You only answer my questions. It is my interrogation, not yours." Wufei said.

The Xetoin looked at him before it let its eyes roam over all of us. Then it clamped his mouth shut and was still.

I sighed. Seemed we would have to convince him to cooperate.

-----

"It's creepy," I said as I secured myself in the harness of the ship's co-pilot seat, and adjusted my Gundam's headset. "They're like the plague. If they all are like this…" I trailed off and shook my head.

"They have no sympathy, no compassion," Trowa said. "No understanding of humans at all. We have to stop them before they destroy all of us."

"Kill the queen," I repeated what Heero had said earlier, "and the rest will die."

Trowa nodded and pursed his lips. "We've come this far. I'm just glad there aren't any other carriers to be concerned with."

"You said it," I grinned. "After we sneak our way in, setting the explosives in critical places should be child's play. Recon and destroy," I said fiercely. "And we're the best when it comes to stealth. We'll make it."

"Amen to that." Trowa replied.

We had launched another attack. Only now, Trowa and I sat in a Xetoin ship whilst our Gundams run nearby on AI, cloaked, and waited for Quatre's signal to hide ourselves among the rest of the Xetoins. I just hoped we wouldn't be detected in the wave of returning ships. Just hoped that we could find a terminal with the ship's specs before we were discovered.

I licked my lips. I hated going in unknown territory. During the war we usually had layouts of the bases we infiltrated, but not every time. A few times, we had to go in blind. Like now. I hated it then, and I hate it now.

I glanced at Trowa's expressionless face. Back then, he had been better than me in infiltration, but I would bet my Ezgadi that he liked this situation now no more than I did.

Our ship glided out of the hangar just as two Xetoin fighters exploded. We followed what was left of the formation as if we had been there the whole time. The switch was flawless, or at least we'd hoped it was.

'In position' I reported, as Trowa matched the ship's movement with the other one.

'Confirmed' Quatre's voice came over the com. And that was it.

One after another, our suits vanished from sight, Bethor being last. Once again the Xetoin ships strayed a while, confused, until one of the controls lit up, and after a few confirming keystrokes, the ship apparently went on autopilot. We truly were on our own from now on. The ship fell in line with others and we observed the carrier growing bigger as we neared one of the open hexagons.

The ship sailed in and moved in position to one of the docking clamps. I stifled a gasp as I looked around. It looked like the inner hull of the carrier was one big hangar. Each ship in a secured hexagon-shaped bay, like one big honeycomb covering the wall opposite the outer hull. I recognized the energy shield as the stolen technology Bethor had. Inside was atmosphere and gravity. Good. We shouldered our backpacks and waited before we cautiously left the ship. We crept to the border of the bay to take a look around. There was no floor, only an empty space with tubes connecting the outer hull with the inner one.

'We're in.' I reported silently.

'Proceed,' was the answer. We would communicate as little as possible. Nobody knew if our transmissions to Bethor could be detected by the Xetoins.

There was a metallic sound and I jumped. Automated hoses moved forward and connected with the ship. There was a hexagon shaped opening in the back of the bay, and I tapped Trowa on the shoulder, gesturing towards it. He nodded. We cautiously moved forward, and crouched, waiting until the other Xetoins passed us by.

When it was quiet, we silently made our way onto the catwalk. It was one of many and they seemed endless. It was the same both up and down. There were stairs connecting the catwalks, both up and down, some angled to the opposite wall. These catwalks connected directly into hexagon shaped hallways, into the depth of the carrier. The pattern was duplicated all the way around. Crap. We could get lost in minutes. I looked at Trowa and he shrugged.

We used hand signals to communicate. We would stay together, heading to the lower levels. We moved silently into a deserted hallway. It junctioned with another to form a larger hall, but there was still no suitable hiding place. I began to get worried. A door to the left and another to the right were the only places to vanish to, but what lay behind them, only God and the Xetoins knew.

We went farther. The halls seemed endless. At yet another hall, I signaled the clear to Trowa and he took point. I followed him along the hallway until it lead into a bigger room. The room held more doorways that seemed to lead to more long hallways. It was beginning to feel a bit redundant. The hallways seemed to lead into the center of the ship. There were doors here and there, but no ventilation shafts to duck into, should we require a quick escape.

I took stock of the room and found Trowa standing in front of a wall housing a computer terminal just one like we knew from the captured ships. I grinned. Finally, something worth our trouble. I guarded while Trowa connected a data pad and transmission device and started the download to Bethor. Then, he stepped aside to let me look for the floor plans.

It took me a moment, but all the training in Xetoin technology helped with the strange system and symbols. Fuck. So far, we had only crossed two junctions, with hundreds left until we came to the center of the carrier. And I had been right about my earlier evaluation. The ship was sectioned in layers, discs, one over another and the discs were connected with several stairwells and tubes. The next one was eight junctions ahead. I pondered the chances of creeping along the hallways without being discovered and came up with disappointing results. As it was, we were lucky that we still hadn't been discovered.

But _wait_. I squinted my eyes at the screen. Yeah, there it was. Every third hallway there was something like a maintenance room, a niche to hide in. And they were _connected_. I grinned at Trowa and pointed at the screen. He took a look and nodded at me as I gestured in the direction we needed to go.

A soft beep signaled the end of the transmission and I unplugged the transmission device and transferred the floor plans to the data pad before I disengaged from the alien system. We were lucky that Bethor was designed partly from Xetoins technology; otherwise we would have stood in the rain about compatibility. In a way, it was like cheating. We knew far more about the Xetoins than we should have, and therefore we had an advantage over them. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't feeling bad about it.

Trowa signaled for me to hurry, and we cautiously crept along the hallway. All the doors had print pads like Bethor, and I slipped on a glove, one of the latex copies we made from a handprint of our prisoner. The door slid open on contact, and we slipped in, settling in for the wait.

It would take some time until the others had analyzed the data we transferred and found the weak points of the ship for us to plant the explosives. We would have to make several trips back to our stolen fighter ship, as we could only carry so much.

"Reminds me of a bee hive," Trowa whispered as he studied the floor plans.

I nodded. "Heero was right. We have to kill the Queen. If there's anything left at all when we're through, then it's not her." I whispered back.

"She will be guarded well," he whispered back. "How do you think we'll get into the center?"

"I'll think of something," I replied.

-----

It took the better part of three days. Eight hours just to get the plans back to us on where to plant the explosives. The rest trying not to get caught while we made our way up and down the monstrous carrier. We ate, slept, practically lived in the maintenance tubes. But we managed to rig the place pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. We decided on five of the most strategic layers, planting our explosives on structural joints, and where there seemed to be an excessive amount of machinery. Big fucking 'boom' wasn't even _close_ to what was going to happen to this place.

I felt as if we'd walked; no, crawled hundreds of miles. We were still in minimal contact with the others as we made our last trip from the ship, the very last of our explosives tucked into our backpacks.

'What about the outer layers?' I asked Heero over the com.

'From the specs, it just looks like food storage. No strategic value.' he replied.

I shrugged and my stomach chose to growl at the same moment. We'd only lived on ration bars and water for the last 36 hours and that just wasn't cutting it anymore. I stopped and eyed the door to my left.

"Duo," Trowa warned me, but I already had made up my mind. Perhaps there was something edible in there. I palmed the pad and the door slid open. I blinked.

"Fuck," I ground out, shocked. There were no shelves with food, no sacks or anything edible for human consumption. The room was packed, yes. But… it was packed with people. Women and children crowded and huddled together. About fifty people, I estimated. Young women. Naked women. And some were, as far as I could see, in various states of pregnancy. And they all looked at me in shock; some huddled in groups, some frozen in whatever they just were doing. Some whimpered.

I heard a gasp behind me. Trowa had stepped behind me and peered over my shoulder. He seemed as shocked as I was.

I took a step back and smacked the pad to close the door, shoved Trowa bodily out of the way, whirled around and took a step, palmed the pad of the door on the opposite of the hallway. It was the same in the other room. I smashed the pad and the door slid closed again. Trowa had gripped my arm. I stood, frozen.

I swallowed, hard. 'Heero,' I called over the com, including Trowa in the connection. 'What do the plans say about the rooms on my position?'

There was a short pause, and then he answered, 'Food storage, I already told you.'

I bit my lip. 'How many rooms say that?'

'Almost all of the rooms of the outer layers. Why?'

I closed my eyes. 'How many?'

'Duo…'

I shook my head, impatiently. 'HOW. MANY.'

There again was a pause before he answered. 'One hundred seventy. WHY?'

_My God_. I stared at Trowa, helplessly.

'Any other sections, mentioning food?' Trowa inquired, while looking at me.

'No,' there was a pause, 'but they seem to grow their own food, instead of replicate it. There are a few rooms that say 'seeding'.'

I shuddered. 'Where?'

'One is situated ahead of you, the door to the left behind the junction. All over,' there was a pause, 'eighty two. Why? Do you plan to poison the Xetoins instead of blowing them up?'

I strode along the hallway, Trowa on my heels. 'Blowing them up may be too nice,' I muttered, stopping at the junction and peering around the corner. All clear. I made a motion to Trowa and he followed me to the room Heero had directed us too. I took a deep breath and hesitated, but Trowa pushed my hand against the pad and the door opened.

There were ten big cells, or cages. Seven of them held men. Most were curled in the corner, some sat on the floor. Gods. I took a step inside the room. One of the inhabitants of the cages sprung forward, clenched his hands around the metal grating. I blinked. The fingers seemed somewhat off. But I had no time to look closer, there was a howl, and whimpers from the back of the room and I jumped. I noticed that there was a doorway along the back wall. I took a few quick silent steps, cautious I crouched beside the door, peeked around the opening.

I gasped. There were three males strapped to cots, or benches, writhing and twitching. I made a quick sign to Trowa to hold position and slipped into the room.

I thought I would become ill and cringed as I took in the full sight. _Holy fucking shit._ There were apparatus strapped on the lower bodies of the three males. Its low humming noises were almost drowned out by the whimpering and panting of the three. Their cocks were caught in a rhythmic pulse and small hoses came out of the tip of the machines, going into a bigger one at the side of the wall.

Didn't take a genius to figure what the machine was doing. What had Heero called this section? Seeding. _Oww._ I backpedaled and shot a quick glance to the one man standing at the cage grating, putting a finger to my lips. I hoped he understood the sign. He said something rapid in a foreign language, and stretched an arm out, but I shook my head, and made a soothing gesture with my hands.

"Sorry dude, but not yet. Just a little bit, okay?"

Trowa hushed me from the door and I slipped out, shot a last glance back at the male before the door slid shut. The look in his eyes had been desperate.

We crept back to the next hiding place, and after putting the cover of the maintenance tube behind me back in place I settled down with a sigh.

"We can't blow the place with all these people in here," I said frantically.

"They're not from Earth," Trowa responded.

"How you figure?"

Trowa was still for a moment. "Did you really look at them? Their coloring… they are similar to us, but not the same. More slender. The eyes are weird shaped, bright colored. Orange, yellow, florescent green, and blue. Every one of them had hair so blonde, it was practically white. No brown, no black. And none of them had any body hair. Not earthling traits." He shrugged.

"I don't care," I hissed. "They are prisoners, held against their will. We have to get them out."

Trowa chuckled. "And how do you suggest we do that? We'll be lucky if _we_ get out."

"Don't know, yet." I worried on my lower lip. "I'll think of something. There were children Trowa, for god's sake."

I wouldn't let them die. That I knew.

-----

tbc


	12. Uriel

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe )  
Archive: Dacia's site at raygunworks. net  
and also Calic0cat's at calic0cat.freeservers. com  
Pairing: 1x2, 4 3  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.   
Disclaimer: Don't own them; used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made. 

Notes: The threads of time have been altered and the Duo that every one knew isn't what he seems to be. After the EW, the pilots walked out of each other lives, but now a great danger looms. They are back together again... this time maybe even a bit closer. Will Duo's secret be the key to their survival?

Thanks to Sakusha for the fast betaing and for her wonderful suggestions. As for Ellimaru, she has had her say in it now, too - thanks girls! 

****

Future of the Past

# 12 - Uriel  
  
(Ministration) A patron angel of literature and music, Uriel bestows  
upon us the gift of creative fire, as well as the power of prophecy.  
We appeal to him for foresight into the future and for help in developing  
our psychic abilities. Uriel is an angel of transformation, archangel of  
salvation, regent of the sun, overseer of Tartarus, and is the spirit of  
ministration and peace. He helps turn our worst disappointments into  
our greatest blessings. He is one of the angels of chance (as in gambling),   
emergencies, judgment, and scroll.

"Impossible," Trowa whispered.

I shook my head vehemently. "I won't leave them here."

"We don't have the capacity…" he began, but I didn't let him finish. I knew Trowa enough to know that he wanted to save them as much as I did. Now, if I could just convince him of my plan...

"We can put them in the ships. If the Xetoins can reach Earth in them, so can they," I replied, in a low voice.

He blinked. "And who's going to pilot? Them? Do you know how many people you're talking about?" Trowa hissed and gripped my arm. "You can't save them all."

"Autopilot, Tro." I tapped on his forehead with my finger and he smacked my hand away. "You remember? The ships have autopilot. We just need the right frequency to control them."

Trowa glared at me, irritated over the intrusive gesture. "And how will we get them into the ships? We can't even communicate with them."

"We have translators for understanding the Xetoins." I tapped at the small device on my arm. "The Xetoins must have something similar for making these people understand them. At the very least, they might understand Xetoin, too," I shrugged.

Trowa shook his head and sighed. "You are insane, you know that?"

I just grinned. I got him.

We were crouched in a maintenance tube just behind the main control center of the Xetoin carrier. We'd pulled out the metal paneling to give ourselves access to the main computer, dug through the wiring and connected our data pads, testing. It took a while, with Bethor guiding us around the layout, electric and wiring plans, but finally I was satisfied. You could even see inside the room from the crack between the floor and the console. I'd added a spy cam, just for good measure.

We could not believe how arrogant the Xetoins were. They hadn't even considered the possibility that they could be breached, and spied on, or that their ship could be, slowly and steadily, rigged with explosives. They hadn't even picked up on our communications with Bethor.

They were completely predictable. We had observed them now for four days. Everything they did seemed to be scheduled. They did the same thing, same time, everyday. Like clockwork.

I'd spent the time plotting. First, we had to make sure of our means of escape. We would use the Xetoin's own ships for that. Originally, they carried a crew of ten, but after studying the blueprints, we found that they could house up to twenty-five easily.

As for communication with the prisoners, they used an intercom system. I'd seen it. I was sure we could use it to reach all of them. We had to get them out before we detonated the bombs.

From the look on Trowa's face, I saw he contemplated something similar. "We're going to have to take all the ships, even the ones we don't use for the prisoners," Trowa mulled, "so that the Xetions can't follow. Any bright ideas as to how we're going to make that happen?"

I shrugged and held up the headset connected to my Gundam's AI. "Call our buddies to hang out there and pick us up. We can destroy the rest of the ships if we have to. AI is a wonderful thing."

He smirked and nodded. "Okay. Brief me."

I sighed, relieved, and we went over the details. Now we just had to spy out and wire the command center, and convince the rest of the 'mad five'.

-----

'No.' Heero's voice was hard.

Just as I expected. I sighed. 'You haven't seen them, 'Ro. For fuck's sake, there are _children_.' I had talked my mouth, err, mind raw. I explained my plan and tried to convince the other three. They broke communication while they thought about it. Trowa and I sat in silence for almost half an hour waiting. They didn't sound convinced when they had returned.

'You can't direct this many people by yourself, or by intercom. You still have to convince them that they're in danger and that you are there to help them.' He was unwavering.

'Shit, 'Ro. We have to try. Please.'

'Duo,' Quatre's voice came over the com. 'Listen. We…'

'No.' I interrupted him and shook my head. How could they? 'I won't leave them here to die. No. Way.'

'Maxwell.' Wufei sounded stern. 'No one said that. Listen, damnit.'

Wow, Wufei swore. I gaped. That sure shut me up.

Quatre snickered. Can one snicker over mindcom? Apparently. 'We will stage an attack and infiltrate. You two are not enough. We will start with the males. We will communicate our plan and have them lead the women and children. Okay? You need them. We five can cover eighty two cells.'

I nodded, relieved. 'Kay. Eighty. I've covered two already.'

'Don't I know it,' Heero sighed over the com, 'don't do anything stupid.'

It was our fifth day here. We replicated rations aboard our hijacked ship. We finished with the command center and fine-tuned our plans. Howard completed the control we would use to pilot the Xetoin ships; he just needed the right frequency. We would need that information very soon.

I'd earlier sneaked into the room we stumbled upon before. The seeding room. I tried to talk to the young male who had spoken to me before. He didn't look to be much older than twenty, could have been late teens. Crouching in front of the cell I tried speaking, tried gestures, tried anything I could think of. But he obviously didn't get it, nor did any of the others. But as I switched on my translator and the chirping sounds came out of it, their faces lit up. They each had a small necklace and fingered them. They had their own translators. 

And so, we got along. I asked and got answers, they asked and I answered. The summary was that they were all born on this ship, and stayed with their mothers until they were old enough to reproduce. Then they were tested. If they were declared able, they were taken for 'seeding' – I shuddered at that – which happened every few days. It reminded me of old pictures of cows. They were simply milked... for their seed.

I was told that most male children are born sterile, but nobody could tell me what happened to them. I had an idea, since we had not found any other males yet, other than in these cells. And all the people here were quite young. No one seemed older than twenty-five, at the most. They really were held like cattle to breed. Food farms. If they're not useful any more…

They looked very much human, but different in many ways. Their bone structures were finer, their skin very pale, as Trowa had observed earlier. Hairless, but for their heads. They couldn't tell me exactly from where they came. All they knew were stories. It was all tales, heard from their mothers. A peaceful, blue world with two suns and five moons, called Karem. Their technology was advanced, space travel was quite normal. Not that I'd expected them to really grasp the meaning of the term 'advanced technology.' They'd been explorers, a friendly species.

They had been surprised by the aggressive Xetoins, and their world was conquered. They were the last of their kind. The Xetoins had destroyed their world, plundering any useful technology they found, then decimating the rest. They took any survivors with them, as they made their way in search for the next possible target. The Xetoins were like locust. They destroyed everything in their wake.

I had a hard time keeping my rage from showing. And I had a harder time trying to explain to them that this life they led wasn't how it was supposed to be. They simply knew nothing else. I decided that the only way this would work was if they were given orders. It was something they knew. Everything else was just too new, and now wasn't the time. I kept this in mind as I approached the next holding cell. It went better this way, quite well, in fact. They were intelligent, but raw.

I decided to poke deeper in their history. If the Xetoins had plundered their technology, there had to be something in the databases about these Karems.

-----

We barely had time to hide when the warning sounded. The guys could have given us _some_ warning that they were going to attack right then. All at once, the place was teeming with Xetoins, and I scrambled like a maniac through the maintenance hoses to the command center. I had to know how they directed their ships.

The control room was packed with them. I linked the spy cam to watch. There was no panic or shouting. They did their work in an arrogant manner, swiftly, and efficient, as if it was irrelevant that they'd lose another chunk of their ships. The attack was nothing but a minor inconvenience. In the end, they were sure they would succeed, it was clear to understand. But I got what I wanted.

They were in for a surprise.

It wasn't long, maybe an hour, and it was over. I waited until all the ships had checked in, the fuss had died down and they fell back into their routines. Then I scrambled back and met with Trowa to give him the details. As the others reported in, we parted and began our secondary mission goal – the Karem prisoners.

And we still had to work our way through to the Queen, in the centre of the carrier.

-----

"Get your ass in gear," I murmured to myself, as I made my way back, exhausted.

I'd done my share and now I crept through one of the tubes, trying to cut the distance by crawling through to the middle. I had used almost a full day getting to the cells, more time than I had expected.

I pulled out my data pad to check my position, as I came to another junction. Looking at the illuminated screen, I realized that I was nearer to the center than ever. I licked my lips, and sat back. Fuck, but this was the chance I was looking for, wasn't it? Time to act, and fast. We all knew the plan. It didn't matter which one of us carried it out.

Tucked in the tube, I sat there, legs tucked up to my chest, shins cradled in my arms, and lightly thumped my head against the wall. Sooner or later it would come to this. Why the hell not right now? I snorted softly. Who'd have thought that my little test run with Ezgadi would turn out to be a full-grown mission? A Nightmare. With aliens. 

Although, one nice thing had come out of all of it. We five were together again. And we'd spent a nice time together, on Bethor. A time which would be over soon. And it had gifted me with Heero. Heero…

I blinked against the sting in my eyes, and swallowed, hard. So much time had gone by, wasted…

I exhaled heavily. Go on, Duo, shove it. Gotta go. I turned left instead of right, and my decision was made. I smiled softly to myself. Silently working my way through the maintenance system woke memories of Oz bases. And it didn't take too long before I was pinged over my com. **  
**  
'Yeah,' I answered silently.

'Duo…' Heero sounded hesitant. 'What are you doing?'

'Going for the kill,' I answered, 'almost in position.'

There was a long pause. 'You won't vanish,' he said suddenly. There was conviction in his voice. 'When this is over, you're still going to be here.'

I froze. 'What?'

'Think, Duo,' He coaxed, 'Treize's vid on Bethor. Your parents. All this… Wufei killed Treize, and still, there is the vid of an old Treize. Bethor still exists, sent from Treize.'

'But…'

'It was only one possibility. One of many.' He didn't stop to let me speak. 'I traced your ancestors in Bethor's system. One of them… he was at the conference. He was… one of the pacifists, who died as… my mission, on which…'

'Heero…' I started, but he interrupted again.

'He died here, Duo, in our timeline. Childless. I know. From the time I… I traveled with Trowa. After…'

'After you self-destructed Wing,' I finished for him.

'Yes,' he confirmed. 'And… and still, you are here.'

I licked my lips and sat down, cross-legged. ''kay. I… I have to think…'

'_You_ were the one who always saw the glass as half-full... weren't you?'

Not really. But I made an affirmative sound, anyway.

'I have a bad feeling. Please, don't go alone. I… Wufei is closest to you. Wait for him. Duo, please.'

'But…'

'We'll start the evac in six hours and strike at the command centre after the shift change. Until then, Wufei is there to back you up, and you both can strike. Trust me.'

I settled myself down for the wait. 'I do.'

-----

I came aware with a start. I heard a faint, scraping sound, a soft rustle of clothes. Wufei. Xetoins wouldn't bother trying to be so quiet. I grinned, opened my eyes and turned my head in direction of the sound.

'Zero-five?'

'Roger, zero-two,' came the answer.

'Took you long enough.' My grin widened as he came in my line of sight. How someone could keep his dignity while crouching a full day through maintenance tubes was beyond me. But he did. He looked not the slightest bit rumpled. Hair still in a tight ponytail, clothes in order. The hilt of his sword peeked over his left shoulder. I wasn't as surprised as I should have been that he'd actually brought it with him.

'Status?' he asked.

'Rested,' I still grinned at him.

He let his eyes roam over me and I couldn't interpret the expression on his face. Relieved? Sympathetic? 'You look as if you've spent the last week in a sewer.'

'Why, thank you. That's exactly what I did,' I grimaced as I rubbed the one week stubble on my chin. I must reek, too. Now, as I thought about it, I could smell myself. Eek.

Let's get over with it. I wanted to be back onboard Bethor. Soak in a shower. Sleep in a real bed. Roll in the sheets with Heero…

I rolled over on my stomach and stretched. I could hear my joints and muscles pop. 'Time?'

'Two hours until they take over the command centre and start evacuation. Expect some turmoil then,' he replied.

I nodded, my face grim. Until then, we would wait in position. Then we would take out the queen. By the time the Xetoins realized something was amiss, Heero would have already broken into the mainframe of the carrier and taken control from them.

We silently made our way.

There were no maintenance tubes at the queen's quarters itself. I replaced the cover of the tube we crawled out of, and stood in the last maintenance room. It's the closest we could get. Still pretty damn close. Expect Xetoins. Lots of them. We had ten minutes. I turned and noticed Wufei stretching and doing exercises. Warm up for the dance. I joined him until I felt my muscles loosen and warm up as well.

With a swoosh the door slid open as I palmed the pad. And sure enough, there stood three very startled looking Xetoins not a few feet away. I heard Wufei draw his sword. A blur shot past me, a glittering shadow, a few grunts and the Xetoins lay on the floor.

I blinked as I stepped out of the room. "You coulda left me at least one of them," I said, as I looked up from the corpses to Wufei.

He just shrugged, lips tilted up at one end, his eyes trained over my shoulder. I knew there were more. I ducked and whirled around, knife in my hand and gone almost the same instant, imbedded between the eyes of one Xetoin. It fell backwards into the path of five others. I sprinted forward, up the steps, ripped the knife from its head before it met the ground.

My left hand closed around the throat of one of them and I whirled it around against me, while I delivered a full kick at another's head. A crunching sound was heard as my foot made contact and I let the knife fly again. It met one of them in its throat. In one motion I brought my arm back from throwing position, gripped the head of the Xetoin pressed against me, and broke its neck. It crumpled to the floor as I let go. It was over in a matter of seconds.

I glance at Wufei. His stance was ready, sword loose in his hand, splattered with blood. He had taken care of the rest of them. It had almost been too easy. During the fight, it seemed as if the Xetoins moved in slow motion, but I knew it was because of our enhanced speed.

I grimaced. Wouldn't do us any good if they alarmed the whole ship. Until now, we had managed to kill them almost soundlessly, but it would only be a matter of time until our luck ran out. Starting forward, I broke in a quiet run down the hallway towards our destination. I stopped short at the last corner, indicating a forking into two wide hallways, going around the Queen's den.

Quickly, I recalled the plans in my head. This was the centre. From this hallway out, every junction would lead away from it. Entry would be to our left, and I peered around the corners. To the right, Xetoins. And they were coming our way. At least five, prodding a group of boys, cuffed and stumbling. Teenagers. I reared back and almost bumped into Wufei behind me.

'Five tangos and ten prisoners,' I reported as I pressed myself against the wall, fighting down the growing wave of fear. 'Kids.'

'Roger.'

He felt it, too. The Xetoins used their ability to hold their prisoners in check. We waited until the first of the boys stumbled past our position, and then we attacked. But this time we had to be careful of the teens. They stood in our way, frozen, but a hindrance anyway. One of the Xetoins grabbed a boy to use as a shield. It let out a shrill whistling sound before Wufei could silence it. Crap.

The hallway was crawling with Xetoins almost instantly. We took out as many as we could, but eventually their sheer number overwhelmed us. My head cracked against the floor as a wall of bodies forced me down. I craned my neck, seeing that Wufei fared no better. A jolt of pain jarred through me as a stick was held against my chest and I blacked out.

-----

Captured. It took me a moment to come to. I fought down the urge to tense my muscles, to get up and fight, or to even open my eyes. I forced myself to stay relaxed and still. I needed to know my status first. I felt cool metal around my wrists. My hands were cuffed in front of me. I listened to Xetoin sounds, clangs of metal, and sounds of someone dragging something. I could hear the groans and whimpers of children. I decided I had to give up the pretence of being unconscious in favour of knowing what the hell was going on.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and blinked. Grey metal bars came into focus. I had a headache, from banging my head on the floor. Great. They hadstuffed me into a cage. But this one wasn't as big as the ones I had seen before. It was much smaller. Slowly, I came up to my knees, cautious not to bang my already hurting head on the ceiling, and looked around. I was in one of many cages. They were lined on the wall, in a room shaped like a half-circle. Most of the cages were occupied.

The Xetoins ignored me. They were too busy shoving children into cages and dragging out lifeless bodies into the middle of the room.

I squinted my eyes at the bodies, and gasped. Unexpectedly a flash of my past flooded my mind, and I was transported back in time. The lifeless bodies were replaced with the charred corpses in the ruins of the church, once my home, on L2. I could almost smell the smoke. Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook my head sharply, and swallowed hard, before I opened them again. I was mad, not only for the murdered boys, but for my own memories.

Wufei, too, lay in a cage, a few over to the right. He seemed to still be out of it. But with him, you never knew. I pinged him.

'Zero-five?'

'Captured, operational,' was his reply. 'Status?'

I snorted. He only had to look. 'Same.'

'You able to get out?' He still hadn't moved.

I eyed the electronic locks on my cuffs and on the cage. 'Negative with the locks,' I tested the cuffs, 'but maybe by force. We still have to get the queen.'

His head came up and he looked at me. 'Just now I can't see how. You plan on chatting her to death?'

I grinned at him. 'Maybe.'

I reported our misfortune to Heero, but he didn't seem all that concerned about us. Huh. At least their part was done; the evac was under way and the control centre in our possession. I was just angry about the twenty minutes we lost while I was out. But not as livid as I was with the scum, busy with disposing of the bodies.

"Hey, shithead!" I called out to one of the Xetoins.

They froze as the device on my arm chirped the translation. They looked at me, and I felt a wave of fear brush over me. I shook it off. One of them replied, "Quiet, foodstuff."

"You fish-faced excuse for a mishap by evolution, I just wanted to tell you all to surrender. You are conquered," I announced, with a false sweet smile.

Wufei groaned.

I'm sure they thought I was insane and wondered why the little display of their ability had no effect. Looking at me, then to Wufei, then back, one of them let the dead body in his arms fall. He turned and stalked out of the room. I winced as the body fell to the floor with a thud, looking crumpled. I had been mad before, but that made my anger flare. I gritted my teeth. These animals. Murdering a bunch of kids and disposing of them like trash. No respect at all.

I glared at the remaining four Xetoins with murder in my eyes. If looks could kill…

Wufei's hiss brought my eyes back to the door. Oops. A Xetoin stood there, twice as big as the ones we had encountered beforehand. Clearly of higher rank, the others bowed before him.

"Ohh, you brought reinforcements? Afraid of a little human?" I drawled at the room in general.

The big one trained his eyes on me and a jolt of panic shot through me. Whoa. Instinctively, I scrambled back against the bars behind me, panting, and closed my eyes, trying to find my centre. God, but that one had a lot more punch behind it than a bunch of the smaller ones. I bowed my head, chin to my chest, and took a few deep breaths through my nose, fighting down the false emotion, and then reached down into that dark place I knew I had. I felt it that darkness flooding through me and I embraced it, welcomed it, and then I opened my eyes to stare back at him from under my bangs.

It tilted his head, taking a few steps in my direction, chirping. 'You wanted to say something?'

"No shit," I laughed, cold and darkly. I knew something it didn't knew. "You are about to die." I gestured at the cages. "Let them go."

Just then, it seemed to notice that I wasn't all too impressed by its display. It narrowed its eyes.

'You are not behaving like foodstuff.'

I snorted, contemptuous. "Someone shit in your head and forgot to stir? Of course not. Because we_ are not_." Lifting my head I stared at it, square in the eyes, whispering, "We are your nemesis."

Its eyes flickered to Wufei, who had settled down on his heels, radiating confidence, his body ready to spring into motion. But the Xetoin seemed unconcerned. Dumbass.

Slowly, I brought up my cuffed hands up in front of me and said, "Open the cages. Now." A click was heard as Heero in the command centre released the locks on all the cages at once and the doors sprang open.

From the corner of my eyes I saw Wufei spring into motion. I coiled out of my cage, too. He could take care of himself. Even with cuffed hands, he was as deadly without his sword as with it.

They were stunned. I launched myself at the big one, landing a few blows and kicks, but it _was_ big and I barely reached its elbow with the top of my head. It recoiled and dodged, snatching two of the freed boys by their throats. He held them high, suspended in the air and chirped in triumph as I stopped cold.

'You want them alive? Surrender.'

I glanced aside, and saw Wufei, having already finished the other four, standing in a crouch, ready to attack again. Cold, dark fury shot through me. I shivered at the feeling and hissed hatefully through clenched teeth, "Bastard." But in reality I willed it to drop dead.

It let out a high scream which reminded me of a dying bird… and I blinked, remembering the dream I had not long ago. I watched, detachedly, as it crumbled to the floor and I just _knew_ it was dead. My mind recalled the dream, the feeling of cold, dark power, born in fury and rage. I stood there, frozen, and remembered the fight in the bar.

It _was_ me. I wondered if it was my rage or my shouting that had gotten the reaction it did. And why? The enhancement? I'd already suspected Quatre was what was considered a Newtype; was I too? Brought out by the serum? Heero's hunches…

"Duo." Wufei's hand on my elbow brought me out of my reverie and I jumped.

I turned to him, eyes wide. What if I hurt them, too? Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, Heero? Accidentally, when my temper flared? I _had_ a temper, and I knew it. What if…

"Duo. Snap out of it." He shook me. "We have a mission to complete." Wufei pressed something to my cuffs and they fell away. I rubbed my wrists, noticing that he'd already freed himself. And he wasn't all too surprised about all of this. Why? I decided we'd have to have a talk later.

I swallowed. Yes. Yes, the queen. We had to kill her. I took a deep breath. My eyes roamed around. "What…" I licked my lips, "what about them?"

Wufei turned in a circle and took in the sight around us, an agonized look on his face. A few of the kids came out of the cages when they had opened, but many stayed, out of fear. They looked frightened, weak, and starved. Some were too far gone to do more than twitch. Some of them only looked as old as we had been when we first piloted our Gundams. The rest were not much older. These were the unfortunate souls not able to sire. I counted fifty of them. The private food supply of the Queen.

My rage bubbled up to the surface again and I made a split-second decision.

'Status of operation?' I snarled over the com, in a conference.

Wufei twitched.

'At least twenty minutes until take off,' Quatre responded.

I took out Scythe's headset and put it on. 'Give me a point of entry. Straightest to the centre.'

'Uh, Duo?'

'Coordinates, Quatre,' I snapped.

He passed them on and I ordered Deathscythe's AI to the coordinates. 

"Maxwell…" Wufei started, and I turned, seeing he also had his headset on.

I turned to him and smirked. "Mind if Altron accompanies my buddy on a rescue mission?" 

Deathscythe's AI reported to be on point and I notified Quatre. 'Knock knock. Open the door and let my buddy in.'

Through the link with the Gundam's AI, I could 'see' the carrier open up, letting Deathscythe in. I still had a hard time getting over the effect sometimes. It was baffling while in the Gundam, but mentally being in two places at the same time? Wow.

'Bethor, start a shuttle to my Gundam's coordinates.'

'Roger.' Bethor's AI answered.

"Maxwell, there is only one seat in…" Wufei said.

I held a hand up, stopping his comment. I needed concentration to do this. The Gundam was in the carrier, in front of the honeycomb shaped docks. Good. Now came the tricky part. 

There were a lot of people trying to get to the ships, and I was scaring the shit out of them with my Gundam, I'm sure. I had to be careful. My mouth was dry as I directed my Gundam to pluck one of the ships out of its dock, then I powered up the Scythe. It was like surgery. It cut through the back wall of the dock like butter, managed not to disrupt the catwalks behind it too much.

Careful. Be careful, I chanted to myself. I wanted to plunge through the walls, but I forced myself to remember the people in the hallways and on the catwalks. The hand of my buddy caught the falling wall and I turned the mecha and hurled it out of the carrier through the still open hexagon.

I let out a breath. Now that the initial cut was done, I had to modify the size to fit the Gundam. The scythe cut through metal like no one's business and my buddy slowly but steadily made progress. Made of two storeys one. It ripped through the carrier's hallways and sparks flew, but it was of no concern to me. By now, the Xetoins had to know that something major was going on. I ordered my Gundam to come to my location; the AI would follow instructions, and then I came out of the trance-like state I had been in, putting the images to the back of my mind. I was sweating, and completely mentally drained.

I noticed I was panting, and grinning like a madman, as Wufei gripped my arm and gave me a shake. "What are you doing? How will you…"

"Don't worry," I replied, smirking. "I have a camouflage net on board Scythe. Altron coming?"

He nodded sharply and looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

"We'll use the net as a hammock between our Gundams and carry them," I nodded my chin at the kids, "to the hangar in it. It should be big enough. Bethor started a shuttle. You go with them and see if there are any others. Our friends are most likely otherwise occupied by now." I quirked a sarcastic grin and took a deep breath, "I'll take care of the Xetoin Queen. And the rest of them."

I turned and marched out of the room, letting Wufei stay and take care of the kids.

Shinigami had Xetoins to kill.

-----  
tbc


	13. Iophiel

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe hotmail dot com)  
Archive: Dacia's site at raygunworks dot net  
and also Calic0cat's at calic0cat dot freeservers dot com  
Pairing: 1x2, 4+3  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi, _many deaths (aliens)_  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them; used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.

Summary: The threads of time have been altered and the Duo that every one knew isn't what he seems to be. After the EW, the pilots walked out of each other lives, but now a great danger looms. They are back together again... this time maybe even a bit closer. Will Duo's secret be the key to their survival?

_Notes: I'm sorry it took me this long to write up this part. RL is a bitch since – hell – since this year began. So little time for this much to do. There just wasn't time. But slowly and steadily we're nearing the end – and those who like will see it. Promise._

Many thanks to Sakusha for meddling with the text – you did gooood – and Ellimaru (yay me, she still had a few useful comments... but waaay less than at the start of this fic) So this is the edited version, enjoy!

* * *

**Future of the Past **

**# 13 - Iophiel**

(Beauty of God) Archangel of the Third Ray, Iophiel is the Angel of Paradise  
and the Patron Angel of Artists. Archangel of Illumination, he teaches the  
outer consciousness the Power of Light within oneself, stirs the feelings,  
through Radiation of Illumination, into aspiration for spiritual things. He helps  
in absorbing information, studying for and passing tests, dissolution of ignorance,  
pride, narrow-mindedness, and exposure of wrongdoing in governments  
and corporations. Iophiel helps in fighting pollution, cleaning up our planet  
and brings to mankind the gift of Beauty. He is a ruling prince of the Order of  
Thrones and the first World Teacher for our world.

It's funny, how many memories filter through your mind in just a fraction of a second.

The moment I turned my back to Wufei, I remembered something that had happened during one of my rare trips to Earth. I had been out late, having a few drinks with some friends. On the way back to my hotel, I took a shortcut across a dark alley. I was horrified to stumble upon a man accosting a woman there.

I'd pulled him off her, hitting him and throwing him into the wall on the other side. I leaned in to help the young women up, but realized that for all my help, I was too late. The damage had already been done. The tears on her face and the bruising on her thighs told me so. I felt rage then. I heard him move behind me, struggling to get up, but my anger held me in place.

I was angry with myself for not being here sooner, though I had not known what foul deed I would find, and furious at finding someone who would dare pray on innocence in such a manner. I started cussing, swearing the foulest language I'd ever heard to date. I wanted to hurt that man the way he had hurt this young woman.

I remember turning to find the man, the rapist, trying to walk away from his heinous act. I stood up to deal him out some justice, still raving in anger, and I can't remember exactly what I said, but suddenly the man fell, bleeding from his nose. He twitched into unconsciousness. I'd assumed whatever injury had occurred, it had happened when I first touched him, since I hadn't laid a hand on him otherwise.

But now?

Then I thought about the Xetoin's ships, floating in space, and manned with nothing more than corpses after our battle. I'd killed them even without knowing it, every one of them.

I _knew_ it to be true.

I had a fleeting thought about my subconscious mind; if it knew, during the wars, what I was capable of. Me, declaring to be the God of Death. It seemed much more fitting now that it had then; or was it Bethor, about and aware during that time, planting the idea in my head? No. I cut that line of thought. Bethor said itself that it couldn't have predicted the outcome of the serum usage, in its own words, and the AI couldn't lie.

It had been me, all the time.

Despite all that, I didn't mull over the how, and when or why, as I stalked through the room, and out into the small hallway. There would be time for that later. Practical as I was, I'd always used a weapon as it presented itself when needed. Not like Heero, who'd just pointed a gun at everything, and then refrained from pulling the trigger. If I had a gun out, I used it. Just now, I was the weapon myself. And I had every intention of using this ability.

I paused briefly. There were three doors here, one out of this circle - which was the middle of the carrier - and the second one I just came though. Number three it was. Only one way to go. I knew we were in the middle of the ship the instant I had come to again, by the curved walls of the room, the one with the cages. That meant I was finally at the Queen's lair.

I was determined to inflict as much damage as possible to those Xetoins. As I reached the door, it slid open by itself. There were four big ugly Xetoins in the room, guarding a door on the opposite side. Their eyes fell on me and I panicked.

_No. Please. Nonono. Help me. Heero, please help me._

I was terrified, afraid as never before in my life, and my stomach lurched in my belly.

I gripped the doorframe, hard, and clenched my other hand into a fist, digging the nails in my palm. The pain helped me to find my bearings again. I fought down the urge to spray the remains of my last meal all over the place, fought hard just to remain sane. I felt hands brutally grip my arms and haul me up – hell, when had I fallen down? But the hurtful contact helped bring me out of the panic attack. I breathed through my nose, and thought about the kids in the other room, and that helped, too.

My head lolled back as they handled me like a lump of dirty laundry and I stared right in the face of one of my assailants.

"Hey, blubber guts," I hissed through clenched teeth, dangling in the air, "wanna dance?" My translator chirped accordingly.

It seemed astonished that I still made a noise. I guess I was a little surprised myself.

I overcame the emotional attack as much as I ever would, and fully intended to finish them off. I spit in its face and it let go of me. I grunted in pain as I fell, my arm twisted - still held by another one of these cretins. I slumped down, against it. One of my knives was already out of my wrist sheath and in my hand as I bumped into it, and rammed the blade into its torso. I twisted the blade, and held on. It dropped me and screeched while my knife made a deep cut downwards with my momentum, and sliced it open. I was instantly doused in blood. The Xetoin fell to the ground.

My God, these fuckers were slow. The moment my feet hit the ground I whirled, and ducked under an outstretched limb trying to grab me. Aiming not to slip in the mess on the floor, I took two steps back against a wall, flexing the hand on my twisted arm.

"You know, that whole 'We-will-conquer-you' thing is over now," I announced, coldly. "You picked the wrong target. No more feeding off helpless people." And before they could take two steps in my direction, I sought out that dark place in myself and sent all my hate at the nearest one. "Go. To. Hell."

It fell, like their comrade had fallen, and I watched in morbid curiosity as an additional swell of blood burst out of the one I had cut open and it stopped making noises. It was as if all their blood vessels had burst all at once. I swallowed and tucked away all my thoughts, everything not necessary to fight. The only thing that mattered was that it worked.

I crouched into a fighting position, eying the two that were left. They came to me from different angles, drawing what looked like very nasty sharp objects, and I didn't know if I could hit them both with whatever it was I used to kill them with before.

"C'mon, snot-face," I murmured, more to myself, "I'll help you become a better being."

One of them tried to stab me and the other took a swing at me, but I ducked under the swing, and sidestepped into its unprotected space. I slashed its thigh, and danced away, chuckling darkly. "Tag, you're it."

It was growling in a chirping way and turned with a new swing at me, which I blocked with my blade protecting my forearm, as a searing pain shot through me. Shit. The second one landed a hit on my unprotected side. I hissed, annoyed at my carelessness, as I made a roll through its feet.

Coming up behind it, I stabbed where the kidneys would be in normal people, and kicked against its knee joint. It fell and folded like a pocketknife, and roared, trying to get me with its weapon by twisting its upper body.

I used the motion to hang on its neck and slit its throat. Three down, one to go. The last one seemed to be shocked at the level of resistance I gave it, or maybe it was just hindered by its injured leg. I didn't care. I let the body fall and charged at the last one with a battle cry… and it crumpled to the ground, dead. I had totally forgotten this strange ability of mine.

I took a deep breath and hissed at the pain in my side. Pressing my hand to the slash, I grimaced. It wasn't that bad, but the blood dripped down my leg, and into a small puddle at my foot. It would have to wait. I had bigger fish to fry at the moment. I moved to the door, the door between me and my prey. It didn't have a keypad, or any other way to get in that I could tell. Well, shit.

'I need someone to open this damned door for me,' I sent over the com.

'On it.' Trowa responded.

I nodded and prepared myself.

'We are under siege, here,' Quatre declared, calmly. 'Your little distraction resulted in them discovering that their ship is out of their control. You have to hurry. I don't know how long we can hold the control centre.'

Oh, shit.

I hadn't thought of that when I called my Gundam to me. I'd only thought about the kids and how to get them out. They would have never made it out on foot through this goddamned monster of a carrier with these Xetoins around.

'I'm sorry,' I tried, a little subdued.

'You did what you had to,' he answered, 'Wufei explained. You did the right thing.'

'But how will you…'

'We're still alive, Duo,' he interrupted and I couldn't finish my question about how they planned to get out as he said, 'and you hurry, damn it, we have to launch the ships and get them out of here.'

I swallowed and closed my eyes, trying to get back in the kind of rage that let me forget, let me ignore the pulsing pain at my side, and nodded. 'Okay.'

The door swooshed open and I stood in front of three more of those impossibly big Xetoins. They had some sort of weapon ready and tried to stab at me with it. In the flash of a moment, I recognized the weapon as a sort of stun stick, the one that had knocked me out before. I focused on my dark side, dodged and took a step back, shouted out one of my attack cries and they slumped to the floor like the lifeless lumps of meat.

I had heard a couple more thumps, and as I stepped over the bodies into the room, I found another five bodies lying there – two Xetoins and… three kids.

I blinked, horrified, and was just Duo again.

"Oh, fuck," I ground out and raced over to them. They were dead, too. "God, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I chanted as I knelt at their sides and closed their eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen, not this. They were innocent, victims. We're supposed to rescue them…

'Duo, focus,' came a sharp reprimand over the com and snapped me out of it.

'Heero…' I tried, but he didn't let me.

'Mission, Duo. Face it. Not everyone will make it.'

I swallowed hard, and closed my eyes. He was right. Some of the people I had seen here on this ship had been so weak, they were on the brink of death. And some may yet die on the way to the ships if they came across the enraged Xetoins. We could only do so much. And all because of these bastards. My rage blossomed anew at the thought of it and I gritted my teeth.

We could have done worse.

Blown up the carrier with all of them in it. But we didn't. We tried to save as many as we could, but there would be casualties, like in every war. And war this was. Or would be. They would proceed to Earth if we didn't do what we had to.

But I had killed them…

I took a deep breath and looked around. It was a large room, divided into sections with tables and chairs and sleeping niches. Must have been the living space of those that I'd just killed. And surprise of surprises, another door. I sighed. It seemed to be the day of doors. I hoped to God that this was the last one. I wanted out of here. I started forward.

'Duo?' Heero sounded timid.

'Yeah?'

'I… I love you.'

I think my eyebrows hit my hairline. That was… really unexpected. What the hell just got into him? 'Uhh… you're not thinking of self-destructing or anything right now, are you?' I asked, just to be sure.

An amused snort came over the com. 'We aren't out of options, yet.'

'Glad to hear.' I cleared my sudden clogged throat. 'Love ya too.'

'Good. Go, zero-two, kick ass.'

'Roger that, zero-one.'

I really had to wonder how bad their situation actually was. I forced myself not to worry. It wouldn't help them, and would only divert me from my task. I took a last look around, renewing my hate for these beasts.

"Open, sesame," I whispered, and the door swooshed open. There waited my final target. It sat in a sort of a nest, but my main attention was aimed on the eight kids surrounding it. Shit. If I unleashed my… whatever it was against it, they would be affected as well, I just had seen.

Fuck. I narrowed my eyes and let my gaze trail over them. They seemed… off, somehow. They were not frightened, as I expected them to be. They looked content, lovingly cuddling with the monster. Weak, but comfortable.

What the fuck?

Looking up, I met its eyes and instantly drowned.

She was ugly… _beautiful_. I shook my head, sharply. She had four legs and arms and reminded me of a monster spider. I hated… _loved_ spiders. My fury said goodbye and left in a hurry, and I stood there, in the middle of the room like a besotted fool, panting. Never in my life had seen such a repulsive… _beautiful_ creature. I shook my head again. This was not right. This was gross… _wonderful._ I was supposed to detest… _admire_ her. I hated… _loved_ her.

My body took a step forward, and another, and I stood in front of her without consciously noticing that I had moved at all.

I had to kill… _protect_ her. I… was in love with her.

Her eyes burnt in mine, and all I could think of was how much I loved her. It hurt, but in a good way. There was something distantly nagging at my mind, but I wasn't able to grasp it. It didn't matter anymore.

"You killed my mates," she screeched, "now I have to wait for the next brood to develop."

I felt bad. Overwhelming regret. I had failed her. God, I was sorry. So terrible sorry.

There was something I had wanted to do, but it slipped my mind as I noticed her reaching for my neck with two of her hands. Her beautiful hands. I leaned into the caress, longing for her touch. She caressed my skin and the contact felt wonderful. I gasped, ecstatic, and briefly wondered why it was so hard to take a breath. Almost as if I…

Unintentionally, I compared her touch with Heero's… it was good, but if Heero touched me…

Heero.

I loved Heero, didn't I? Then… how…

How was it possible I loved…

I felt lightheaded and my eyes fell closed on their own accord, and the eye contact was broken. My lungs felt as if they would burst and I noticed the pain from its grip on my throat. It intended to choke me. God. I had fallen into its trap and it almost finished me off without me even noticing.

I squeezed my eyes shut and bodily fought off its choking grip on me, following up with a hard blow to its head. It was stunned about me breaking its hold on my mind, but as I intended to dodge back a few steps, it had grabbed my left leg and I fell down on my ass. I kicked out with my unrestrained foot and heard something break.

It screeched.

I watched the deadly Queen, but avoided looking directly in its eyes. Its remaining concentration was on me, I could tell. But it couldn't break my renewed fury, mostly at myself for being such an idiot. The kids, so content before in its near proximity, had scrambled away, and huddled fearfully, from what I could make out in my peripheral vision.

Good.

I felt it trying to influence me, but the situation now wasn't the same as before, when it had hypnotized me. It had violated my feelings for Heero. And, for that alone, it had to pay. I would finish it up, yes, but up close and personal.

I'd flipped backwards when I'd broken her hold, and had pulled the knife out of my boot as I came up again, crouched, ready. A cold fire burned inside of me from restrained hate. I cocked my head and studied it coldly, startled as I noticed I'd contemplated the slowest way to finish it off.

"If I had your ugly face, I'd run straight into a buzz saw," I drawled, intending to divert its attention.

But it surprised me again.

It leaped from its nestling position towards me, and revealed that it was as big as its companions were, if not bigger. Size wasn't everything, it was about to learn. Like its late companions had learned.

I danced out of the way, laughing madly. It was fast, but I was faster. It had a wide range, but I ducked and dodged, closed in and danced away, slowly but surely cutting it to ribbons. All the time mocking it. My translator chirped without end. It gave me a morbid satisfaction, seeing it becoming weaker and slower, bleeding all over the floor.

And all the time it screeched and chirped hatefully, and I laughed darkly.

And just like that, it was over.

Laying on the floor, sprawled in its ugly completeness, I detachedly eyed the lifeless remains. Somehow, I was disappointed that it was over this fast. But… I shook my head, sharply, and felt disgusted with myself. I had enjoyed it. Completely and utterly enjoyed the kill. Without restraint or remorse, I had taken pleasure in taking a life. I blinked. Was I any better than they are? I drew in a sharp breath.

A faint sound brought me out of it. I turned and looked over to the kids, whimpering and staring at me with wide, fearful eyes.

"It's okay, now," I tried to soothe them, "nobody will hurt you anymore. We're going."

They looked at me as they heard the chirping of my translator, and I squatted down by the nearest to me, still keeping an eye at the door. You never know. Crouching on my heels, I slowly raised my hand to his necklace, and tugged softly.

"All of you have one of those?"

The boy slowly nodded, distrust still plain in his eyes.

I sighed. "Look, I'm here to help you. We've to get away from here, and blow this place up royally. But you'll have to move."

Unsure of my words, he turned his head to his buddies. They seemed not to know what to do. Used to obeying the Xetoins, they wouldn't know how to react. They'd have to be told what to do. I sighed again and got up, wincing at the pain of my injuries.

"Move, now. And stay behind me."

They hesitantly stood and moved behind me as I stepped out of rooms. I stopped short as I stepped into the hallway, into a place of destruction. The hallways had been ripped open by 'Scythe. The damage seemed to go up well over a hundred feet. My Gundam and Altron stood there, unmoving, swarmed by Xetoins crawling all over them, trying to get into the mechas. They hacked and stabbed, and tried whatever came to their minds. Not that they succeeded in any of it.

Wufei was nowhere to be seen, and I reported and inquired about his status.

'Down two layers,' he answered. 'Some type of quarters. Mostly empty now. You?'

'Operational,' I answered truthfully. I wasn't lying, exactly. I may have been injured, but I'd had worse.

I ushered the boys into the room with the cages and turned back just in time to see a bunch of Xetoins coming at me. It was time to test my deadly ability in a wide range. If I had unknowingly killed entire ship crews while fighting, I supposed I could do so here, too.

Working up a sweat over them seemed like too much of an effort and I let my gaze sweep over the enemy. Cold, I felt dark and cold inside, and I compared it to the feeling of deep space. Like death. I wondered if they had to hear my voice for it to work. Had the crews of the ships? I did not know. Maybe. I had my channels open as we battled them, as I had in the past, but I had no way to know if they listened.

I decided to test it. What other opportunity would I get? I concentrated on the swarming Xetoins and directed the desire to see them dead. Nothing happened, and I whispered hatefully in their direction. They dropped like dominoes, and I was amazed. Apparently, I wouldn't need to shout myself hoarse, there was no way the farthest ones could have heard my words.

I again let my gaze sweep over them and directed pure hate in their direction, murmuring words of death. I took out my headset to 'Scythe's AI and put it on, giving orders. Slowly, making my way through the growing piles of bodies, I climbed up in my mechas hand and my buddy stood up. I looked around, still whispering hate, and everything in my line of sight dropped.

I swallowed. I really was Shinigami, now. I killed with a thought and my voice, without raising a weapon. I stood there, in the palm of my Gundam, and didn't know what to think. Somehow, it tilted my world. I really was a newtype, improved with science, but no less true. Quatre was one, too. What about the others? What about Trowa and Wufei? Heero had seemed to develop an ability that let him know if actions resulted in something bad happening, so that it could be avoided

I tilted my head. Was that why he told me he loved me? Had he known I wouldn't withstand the Queen's mindfuck without reassurance? I smiled, as I activated my com link.

'Oh-two reporting. Mission objective eliminated. And then some.'

'Roger.' Quatre answered. 'Retreat and stand down.'

'Status?' I asked.

There was a pause, and then he answered, 'About to be breached. We have to start the ships, now.'

I bit my lip. About to be breached? This was bad. 'Confirmed. I had Howard send a shuttle for the kids here. Go is at any time.'

'Understood,' he replied. 'We'll set the detonations as soon as you're out.'

My blood ran cold. What did he mean? They wouldn't… 'No way. I won't…'

'Starting sequence for the ships enabled. Go, oh-two.' And he severed the connection.

I sighed and rubbed my face in my hands. Did he really expect me to let them blow the place without extracting them first? As I looked up again, there was Wufei standing, frozen. He took in the piles of bodies and slowly raised his head to look at me. His mouth still was open in a round O. Astonished, and… mute.

I shrugged and called out, "What else would you expect from Shinigami?"

He clicked his mouth shut and shook his head, gesturing to someone at his back. Sixteen kids came out around him, staring, too. But mostly at our mechas.

Snorting dryly, I sprinted over my buddy's arm to the shoulder, climbed down in my cockpit and released the camouflage net from the storage compartment. In no time we had it set up between our two buddies and had them kneel at the floor. We ushered all the kids in it and climbed into our cockpits, returning the way our buddies had come, only with one huge hammock between us.

Our trail was hard to miss; all over there were walls, ceilings ripped open, cables, and wires hung loose, some still sparking. On our way back we encountered small pockets of resistance, but I just caused them to drop dead. No challenge in that.

Wufei helped the kids into the shuttle, while I kept watch in my buddy. I was beginning to feel dizzy, from blood loss I suspected, but I gritted my teeth and kept silent. We still had work to do. The hangars were empty; all the docking doors of the carrier were wide open. Swarms of ships could be seen in the distance, leaving the premises. Good. Howie would bring them to a safe distance before we blew this monster up. Wing, Sandrock and Heavyarms hovered in the docking bay, waiting for the command of their pilots.

'They plan to blow the place up as soon as we are out of here,' I watched, as Wufei narrowed his eyes.

'Fools,' he replied.

I watched as he turned and climbed into his Gundam again, intending to work our way through the ship to the control centre. No words were necessary between Wufei and me; he also was reluctant to leave the rest of our team to fend for themselves. Sparks flew and metal screamed as my buddy's Scythe cut its way through the carrier. This time there was no need to be stealthy. The Xetoins knew shit was going down. They just didn't know how much, yet. It took precious time to work our way through, but it was way faster than going by foot.

I began to get antsy. They might do something stupid. And I wanted out of here. Preferably in one piece.

I could see what they meant. Breached, my ass. Xetoins were all over the place as we reached the command center. And the worst – the doors stood open. I swallowed.

I'd tried to reach them through the com for a while now, but there had been no answer. Only a confirmation that Bethor still had readings from them, reassured me that they still were alive. But in what state?

As we came closer, the Xetoins came at us woth vigor. They didn't seem to be dissuaded by the groups of comrades falling dead at their feet. They just kept coming. No sense of self-preservation at all. I gritted my teeth. The dizzy feeling intensified and my ears began to ring. I felt lightheaded and small white dots danced into my vision. I didn't know how long I could hold on. I bit hard on my cheek and the pain helped me to continue. I couldn't pass out now.

My buddy shoved the corpses aside into the hallways where it built a barrier of dead bodies, which prevented the new ones from coming to us. It bought us some time. I let my buddy kneel and got out of the cockpit, trying to keep my swaying under control. Wufei was at my side, sword drawn. I realized that he was holding me up.

"You're injured," he stated. "Why didn't you…" He trailed off, staring through the open door.

I blinked. Had I finally lost it and gone to la la land? There were the Xetoins, building a circle around my lover and my two friends. That was almost what I had expected. What I didn't expect was the way they stood there, motionless. Not fighting and making havoc. Quatre's and Heero's hand lay on Tro's shoulders and Tro had an arm outstretched, palm facing the Xetoins, eyes unseeing and far away. Okay. Like I said, la la land.

But the thing that really had me think I was dreaming was… seeing the Xetoins around them hacking at what seemed like an invisible barrier, obviously unable to come any nearer to them. They were furious. Like kids throwing a tantrum. I snorted.

Oops. That wasn't too neat a move. Some turned and rushed at us. Wufei raised his sword, but I was faster. Avoiding the direction the three were standing in, I killed most of them in one sweep with a whisper and a swell of hate. Had to leave some to Wufei, who used his chance.

I just had time to register Heero's eyes widen at the sight of us standing in the doorway, and then the whirl of Wu's sword, and then I was out like a light.

tbc

Excerpt from one of the beta's comments:  
**"Some turned and rushed at us," maybe? When you say "came on to us", I imagine some Xetoin coming up to Duo at a single's bar and trying to buy him a drink. **  
Do you think I should make blogs out of it? snickers


	14. Mumiah

Thank you all very much for your reviews, they are highly appreciated and a sign that someone still is reading this...

* * *

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe at hotmail dot com)  
Archive: Dacia's site at also Calic0cat's at calic0cat. 1x2, 4+3  
Rating: still M, as for the lemon is to read elsewhere…  
Warnings: Angst, Language, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi (but isn't GW Si-Fi on its own?)  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them; used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made. 

Summary: The threads of time have been altered and the Duo that every one knew isn't what he seems to be. After the EW, the pilots walked out of each other lives, but now a great danger looms. They are back together again... this time maybe even a bit closer. Will Duo's secret be the key to their survival?

Notes: I lied about the fifteen parts, seems to get longer. Figured the boys needed a bit recreation time... Lemon warning.

Thanks to Sakusha, who betaed this despite her drool-covered keyboard to the end of this chappy... laughs - and thanks Ellimaru, for your polishing touch.

* * *

**# 14 - Mumiah**

This angel presides over the science of medicine and  
physics. Mumiah is traditionally believed to grant health  
and longevity, as well as being able to suspend physical  
laws to create miracles.

* * *

I woke to the sound of Quatre's soft, steady voice. It sounded as if he was reading something. Bright light shone through my still closed eyelids and I wondered where I was. The voice rang through my mind, and formed coherent words. He was reading, all right. Sounded like a tale. I did not recognize it, but it felt nice, being read to. I shifted slightly and wriggled deeper into my pillow. 

"Duo?" Quatre's voice now clearly addressed me I figured, because he'd spoken my name.

"Hmm?" I shifted, annoyed at being ripped from my half dream and comfortable lethargy. I wondered for a moment why Quatre was in my quarters, reading to me in the first place. "Don't wanna. Let me…" Oh, wait. There was something… I sat up like a spring, and looked around, bewildered. Oh, no. I was in medical… again.

Blinking against the light, I tried to recall the reason I was there. It was becoming rather monotonous. I tested my limbs and stretched again, but nothing hurt. Wait! I remembered the carrier… the wound… I touched my side, but there was only smooth skin under my hospital grown. No bandages, no stitches. Turning my head, I looked at Quatre. "What the hell…"

He sat in a chair; book now in his lap, between mine and… Trowa's beds.

"… happened to i_him_/i Quat?" I blurted out, before he could answer my first outburst.

He looked sadly over at the still sleeping form in the other bed and replied, "The same thing what happened to you."

"He was stabbed?"

Quatre shook his head. "No, nothing… physical. He exhausted himself."

Looking at him in puzzlement, I eloquently added "Huh?"

He smiled tiredly at my lack of thought process, and then sighed heavily, fidgeting with a page of the book.

"What happened, Quat?" I poked softly, bringing my legs up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

"We… we were in the command centre and the Xetoins broke through the door. At first we held them in check, but then Trowa ran out of ammo…"

I snickered and he furrowed his brows, but continued.

"… and then Heero. We were better combatants than them and we continued to fight, but there were so many of them. It seemed for every one we killed there came two more of them…" He trailed off, remembering. "We've all got a few cuts, bruises, minor things.**"**

I nodded and waited patiently for him to continue.

He took a deep breath. "And then one slipped under my guard and Trowa shoved me out of the way and turned… and it was as if the Xetion ran into a wall. I…" he shook his head, "I don't know what it was exactly, but it seems that Trowa developed a gift…"

I bit my lip and nodded again, then rested my head on my knees.

"I… he held them back, you know? We had to steady him after a while. It seemed to take a lot of energy out of him. But he shielded us. And… and then you two were there and…" He looked me in the eye. "Duo, what in the hell are i_you_/i capable of?"

I closed my eyes briefly and bit my lip again before I shrugged and let an unconcerned smile cover my insecurity. "Why, Quat, I'm i_Shinigami_/i. You already knew that."

He narrowed his eyes at my attempted cheerfulness. "Duo..." He fiddled with his hands.

I sighed, and squeezed my eyes shut. "I kill, Quatre. I just… kill." I said, miserably.

I heard him get up, and a thump as the book fell to the floor. My mattress shifted as he sat down on my bed and put his arms around me. "No," he murmured, one hand rubbing circles on my back, "you don't just kill. I felt it, you know?" He drew a sharp breath. "We got a shock, seeing you in that state. You were covered all over in blood, leaning on Wufei, and what little of your skin was visible was chalk white. We thought you were hurt badly. Your eyes… and then, when you collapsed…"

Quizzically I opened one eye and stared at his shoulder.

He chuckled softly as if he had seen my curiosity. "I felt you unleash your fury. And the brush of death. But that was not all. There was also love, care, and the need to protect. That was nice," he murmured wistfully, "among all this alien hostility."

I shifted and put my chin on his shoulder, snuck my arms around him. "I'm just glad we made it." My eyes fell on Towa. "So, what's with Tro exactly?"

I felt him stiffen and he disengaged himself from our embrace. He turned his head to look at Trowa. "He's in a coma," he answered, miserably.

I gasped at his tone. "What?"

"But so were you." He looked back to me, a small, sad smile tugging at his lips. "Now that you're awake I am sure he, too, will be soon."

I frowned. "How long was I out?"

"Four days," he replied. "You exhausted yourself totally, Sally said. I suspect by using your gift so excessively." I gave him an unbelieving look, and he added hastily "It wasn't your injury. Most of the blood wasn't yours. Your wound healed neatly. You can almost see how the flesh knitted itself. It's amazing."

"Science," I snorted. "As if we haven't been tampered with enough. Now we're all freaks, too."

"I don't consider myself a freak," he said, hesitantly. "Enhanced, maybe. Or further along the evolutionary scale than most. Sally wants to make a scan. Of you and Tro."

I groaned.

He chuckled softly. "It's not that bad. She did the rest of us already. Bethor's equipment is far ahead of Earth technology. The results were… interesting."

"I don't care," I whined. "I've already spent more than enough time here since this freaking trip began." Then a thought came to me. "Where i_are_/i the others? Wu-man and 'Ro?"

"They are mending the alien ships with the Maganacs and Preventers. We took turns. Today was my day to rest and read to you two. The Karems are frightened. There are a lot of them."

I nodded, understanding. I could relate.

* * *

The first thing on my list after being released from medical, was to go to my quarters. 

As I palmed the pad and the door opened in front of me, I was grabbed and pulled into our quarters. Heero, freshly showered and apparently on his way to leave again, scooped me up and I gripped his arms for balance as he kissed me, hard.

I released his arms and moaned in his mouth as he put me back down. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders without breaking the kiss. Eagerly, I slid my tongue into his mouth, tasting him once again. God, it had been so long and I'd wanted this since I'd woken up in medical hours before.

Now he was here in my arms. If this was a coma induced dream, I was going to be pissed as hell when I woke up. If it wasn't, he was so i_not_/i going to get away. The kiss carried on until we were both left gasping for air, our hands roaming over each other's bodies all the while. I'd managed to undo some of the buttons on the white shirt Heero wore, and slid a hand underneath it to skim along Heero's chest. Heero's hands were beneath the back of my top, and had it pushed halfway up my back.

"God, I want you so fucking much," I breathed against Heero's mouth. I rocked my hips and couldn't help but moan again as I ground against Heero. Somehow, we made our way across the room, and I vaguely noticed that along the way I had lost my top. We fell down onto the bed, rolling over again and again, still kissing, and I wrapped my legs around Heero's waist above me.

I squeezed my legs around him as I yanked his shirt off. Breaking the kiss, I pulled it over his head, unwilling to wait to undo the rest of the buttons. Once the garment was off, Heero rolled onto his back, dragging me along with him until our positions were reversed. Within seconds he came up and I met Heero halfway and we resumed the kiss, tongues battling as we tried to taste as much of each other as possible.

Heero's skin was exactly how I remembered, smooth except for a few puckered scars, testament of sacrifices made. I cherished every one of them. I ran my fingers over them, causing Heero to flinch, so I soothed my hands along his sides until he relaxed again. He skimmed a hand along the edge of my pants until I was squirming on top of him, rubbing against him in such a devilish manner that he closed his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. "Take me," I whispered into his ear, wishing fornothing more at this moment.

"Duo… oh, don't do that," he moaned, "I don't want to come in my pants again." He slid his fingers through my hair as he opened his eyes. Holding my head still, he stared intently at me. "I want to come in you this time." His eyes burned into me. "I want to feel you around me, hot and tight, just like I've dreamed of since forever."

Eyes heavy-lidded, I gazed back at him. "Oh yeah, fuck me, Heero. I… want you." Then I lowered my head, forcing Heero to release his hold before he pulled my hair, and started to nuzzle his neck. Heero moaned softly and tilted his head sideways so I could have better access to the side of his neck. He didn't stop rocking his hips as my mouth tormented him by sucking on and nipping at his skin. He took it, panting, until I thought he would come despite his words, and then he rolled over, tucking me beneath him. "Gods, how I love the feel of you against me…."

He caressed my chest as he returned the favour, nibbling on my ear, before his mouth trailed down my neck. Once he reached my collarbone, he started to suck in earnest, apparently pleased by both the thought of me bearing his mark, and the way I writhed beneath him. After a few moments he continued downward, pausing to suck on a nipple. He traced lines on my belly with his tongue, swirling it inside my navel before scooting lower, breathing on the covered bulge.

I moaned his name, but we had to take care of a few things first before he could lose himself in my body, the way we both wanted. He set about taking off my boots. They had to come off before he could get rid of the hindering pants. Gliding his hands down the inside of my thighs, he chuckled at the sounds his touch provoked from me. Jerking at the ties, he deftly unlaced my boots. Then he was tossing them behind him, his hands trailing back up the inside of my legs, his fingers brushing against my still bound erection and making me buck my hips at the contact.

Heero's hands shook in anticipation as he undid the zipper on my pants, and once they were loosened enough, he grasped the waistband and started to tug on them. I quickly lifted my hips, helping him to slide them down my legs. Soon enough they were tossed the way of the boots, and Heero bent down to lick at one of my ankles. He slowly made his way back up my legs, placing kisses here and there, while my fingers sought hold of the sheets. He deliberately skirted around my cock, standing proudly before him, to nuzzle my hipbone. While I squirmed beneath him, wanting more, he fumbled with his own pants, trying to get them off as quickly as possible.

It took several tries before he could undo his belt buckle, and once his jeans were unzipped, he was shoving them down. He had to pull away from me so he could completely remove them. Then they were gone and I grabbed him by his hair and pulled him back on top of me. He groaned as our bodies came into contact, and then again when I rocked against him, erections sliding against each other with a maddening friction.

"Heero…." I arched my back and moaned, eyes closed, as I wrapped a leg around Heero's waist.

"Yes," he sighed as he captured my lips again for a kiss. He kissed me gently this time; our hips thrust against each other's, and I basked in the feeling of skin against skin, that he was naked above me, and the thought that we would be joined like never before.

I felt separate from the world, cut off from everything except for Heero.

My hands fell from his hair, one of them settling on the small of his back. Heero stroked his hands down my sides, until they rested on my hips, pulling them up as he ground his down. It left us both gasping, and then something cold and plastic was being pressed against the back of my hand.

I pulled away and opened my eyes, and smiled when I saw the tube of lubricant. I eagerly snatched it before he bent down to kiss me again. He seemed utterly captivated by the way I tasted and the sweet moans I breathed into his mouth when we rubbed against each other.

I clumsily flipped the top of the tube open, and almost squeezed its contents all over the bed. I managed to get some into my hand, and fumbled for Heero's hard, hot cock. He groaned and bit his lower lip as I stroked him, coating him with the slick lubricant.

"Now… now, Heero… do it. Fuck me, please. I want you to. I need you." I ground out the words as my hips rocked upwards, my leg wrapping tighter around Heero's waist.

He seemingly lost himself hearing my words, as I voiced it out loud, knowing that he'd wanted it for so long and needing this just as much as he did. I had a fleeting thought of taking things slow, but I felt ready to burst after seeing Heero so utterly desperate at me begging to be fucked. He pushed my other leg up against my chest, his hands trembling.

C e n s o r e d as for ff dot net's demands…

We both trembled in the aftershocks, our breath ragged and our bodies sweating. I felt languid and sated, utterly content for the first time in ages. I hugged Heero tightly, needing to hold him, to have him close. My emotions were a muddled mess of affection, desire, need and happiness, all of them focused on my lover. Heero was finally able to shift onto his side, pulling me against him and snuggling close, his arms around my back. He was holding onto me very tightly, as if he would never let go again, causing me to squirm in his arms, until I heard his breath even out and I found myself drifting off to sleep, too.

Life was good, just now. I, too, never wanted to let go.

* * *

"Hold still," Sally chided. 

It was my turn. Trowa had already undergone his little torture session. He'd woken up a day and a half after I had.

I lay still in the tube and held my breath as she scanned my brain. She tapped a few controls and muttered, and a few minutes later the machine heaved and rolled away from me. I sat up on the cot, and removed all the electrodes on my head. "How is he?" I made a motion in the direction of one of the Karem kids, still sporting a fever. The Karems had no immunity to any of the bacteria normally found in human beings, we discovered. Many of them had gotten sick, and Sally had her hands full.

"He's better now. We're almost through with the shots; some of the Maganacs are becoming very good with hypo-injectors." She smirked. "Thanks to the replicators we have enough serum for all of them." She looked over to the kid, who had gotten one of the nastier bugs from us. "He should be okay, in time," she said.

I bit my lip. "Okay." I hadn't wanted to hurt them. I wanted to rescue them. How were we to know that the Xetoin carrier was a sterile environment? "And the others?"

"They will be fine," she said. "We've got the problem under control."

I nodded.

"So, spill," she said as she packed away her utensils. "What is it that has you so secretive?"

Squiring uncomfortably, I told her: about our suspicion that the serum had enhanced more than we suspected; how the accident in the 'bar' had happened; the Xetoin ships with the dead crews, and the… mass eliminations on board the carrier, done by me. I hopped from the cot and walked over to her, where she and Heero stood and studied the screen.

"I can't see anything overtly unusual, like in the earlier scans of you guys," she said after a while, glancing shortly at Heero. "But I'm no specialist on brain activity. I can just suspect with Bethor's medical data background. See here?" She tapped at a part of the screen, and I bent closer to look. "This section of the brain is normally latent, but yours is fully active. Heero's is active, too, but not to this extent. So are the sections of Quatre, Trowa and Wufei."

She pulled up another scan. "This brain shows normal function, as we know it. It's from your other victim the other day, from the bar accident," she grinned, "Preventer Agent Mills. He's enhanced, too, and if it'd been the serum alone, his brain would show the same pattern."

"Thanks." I made a face at her.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Anything like that happen before?"

"No." I shook my head.

"Yes," Heero said.

I looked at him, astonished. How did he know? "Uhm, on Earth, a year or so ago…" and I told the story about the rape. "…but I didn't think any of it, then." I finished.

"Hmm, that's all?" She jutted her lower lip

I nodded and opened my mouth to confirm, but Heero was faster, and said no again. I looked at him, confused.

"He made me lose it." He stated.

"I… what?" I blurted out.

He looked at me, quirking the corner of his lips and raising an eyebrow.

I… oh. Oh. OH. I blinked at him.

"Pardon?" Sally asked.

Heero sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "We were occupied in something… private. He made a suggestion about something… intimate and I lost it." He raised an eyebrow at her confused face, totally unconcerned. "Got off… came… creamed my pants…"

"Oh," she exclaimed, grinning, "…lost it. I see."

I felt my ears go hot, and shot Heero a glare. He shrugged. "Uhm, do you think it's because I've been enhanced a lot longer than the others?"

She shrugged. "Can't tell. Maybe." She pondered this. "No, I don't think that's it alone. Maybe your parents had been newtypes, too. We don't know what evolution plans for one or two generations from now…"

I gaped at her. That possibility hadn't crossed my mind. But she was right. I should not exist, yet, in this time. Not until later, much later.

She went on, "… or maybe it's on account of the nanites in combination with the serum that Agent Mills shows no signs of this." She tapped at the screen. "Or it's because of your accident. Don't forget, there i_had_/i been brain damage. Maybe the enhanced healing in combination with the nanites caused something." She narrowed her eyes and stared at nothing. "To unfold the real possibilities of humankind, written in our genes..." she licked her lips, and her eyes shone bright with enthusiastic curiosity. "We could take more tests, and then…"

"Stop." I held up my hands and slowly stepped backwards. "No. No way. No more tests. I'll just be cautious who I yell at, okay?"

* * *

"I think it's empathy, just like I have, but the other way around," Quatre leaned his elbows on the table, his chin on his folded hands. "You don't receive, but you _project_." 

"Huh." I flipped back my bangs. "Broadcast, huh?"

He nodded.

"Like a radio station," Trowa commented dryly, "only it's like shockwaves."

Heero smirked and I jabbed him in the ribs. "So you're kind of a precog, huh? Like ZERO all over again."

He shook his head. "No. I don't i_see_/i anything. It's more like… a gut feeling."

I bit my lip before I blurted out with what popped into my mind. If Heero had developed this gift earlier… we could have… No. That was low. I almost missed the remainder of the conversion, feeling rather ashamed.

"… concentrating on air molecules." Was the rest I got of Tro's elaboration.

"So," I playfully looked around, "anybody notice anything unusual about Wufei?"

He bristled. "Don't speak about me as if I weren't here, Maxwell. And no. I've not noticed anything unusual about myself."

"But your scan revealed the same activity as ours," Quatre mentioned. "There should be something."

Wufei looked at him, annoyed. "I'll let you know if I'm able to fly."

I smirked. We sat in the 'bar', having a little time together. It had been a long time since we'd been able to. We'd barely seen each other in passing. The last three weeks we'd been busy shuttling between the fighter ships, on which the Karems were perched, who had never been on a ship before. Okay, they'd been on the Xetoins carrier, but it had been so big, it almost qualified as a colony. So, being on a these fighters was frightening for them. And then there was confusion about what to do with them. We reassured them that we would bring them to our planet, but what would await them there?

We'd tried to make them as comfortable as possible, but it was a long way. Bethor took lead of our convoy, and we had worked out a timetable to make it possible for the Karems to come on board for a while before we switched to the next few ships. We only had so much space. It was a change for them, which they gladly accepted. They wandered through our ship with wide eyes, spent time in the holo decks, in which we'd programmed parts of Earth, and the Maganacs and Preventers were busy patiently explaining and answering their questions over and over.

Then there was the little matter of the Xetoins' scouts, already in close proximity of Earth. They would either return, or sit and await orders from a ship that no longer existed. We had to find them. But that had to wait.

I viewed Bethor's recordings of the exploding carrier, and couldn't help being proud. Tro and I had done good. The bombs went off in all the right places. You could see the carrier shuddering, explosion after explosion. Finally, it burst, and we were all relieved that the menace to humankind was gone for good.

The conversation stopped, and I looked up as a figure stepped towards our table. It was one of the Karem. He was looking at me.

"Duo Maxwell." He touched his forehead with the fingertips of both hands and then made a wide sweeping motion with his arms while he bowed. "Thanking you for help get out." He spoke our language, and while broken, it was understandable.

Only then I did recognized him. It was the young man from the cell, the one I had first spoken to. I grinned. "No prob, man. You want to sit down with us?"

We still wore our translators, and thanks to Bethor we'd been able to reprogram ours with the Karem's language. If you listened really hard, it sounded not too different from one of the old African ones on Earth. Bethor had, in an astonishingly short time, come up with a suitable solution.

Our AI had also detected that the translators, which the Karems wore, weren't only that. It was a little but effective device monitoring the body functions, the location, and could send out an electric impulse, which rendered someone, who was confronted with it, in a state of shock. The ideal controlling device for prisoners.

He sat down at my side and looked around, and we chatted.

* * *

"I can't believe it," I laughed and looked over to Wufei and Quatre, who looked equally stunned. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" 

"We rescued our ancestors," Wufei said, astonished.

"Looks like it," Quratre leaned in and pulled up another screen. "Here. According to this data, the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy was, at one point, really near our Earth. Their planet must have been close enough that they started expeditions." He tapped another button. "There is a blue planet mentioned."

We'd been analyzing the data they'd transferred over to Bethor whilst they hijacked the control centre. A big chunk was about the conquest and history of the Karems. Okay, not a big chunk in the Xetoins' database, but in the one transferred. The Xetoins had been space nomads, traveling from Galaxy to Galaxy, searching and abducting victims to leech from.

"The Karems have been a very progressive race," Wufei said. "It's a shame, them being wiped out."

"Not completely, Wu," I mused. "Maybe we can… Look, here!" Excitement gripped me as I detected something else. "Here is an expedition mentioned, a convoy of pioneers."

"Maybe all the earlier speculations about the evolution of humans are wrong," Quatre said. "They must have mixed with early homo sapiens, the time pattern matches with the boost in the evolution on Earth. It might explain Sally's results that our genes are so similar to theirs."

"Oh, man, this is fucking fascinating." I practically bounced in my chair. "We've uncovered the secret of human evolution. Shit, man. Imagine the attention that brings to them. They can't ignore this. They have to welcome the Karems with good will. Relena will, I'm sure."

Wufei nodded. "But don't underestimate the opposition they'll get. There will be some, without a doubt." He leaned back. "There'll be fanatics, protests, new religions. Remember we've been silent over the alien invasion affair. No one other than the people here on board and a few others knew about it."

Quatre nodded. "I don't think it would be smart to introduce them as aliens. They're similar enough to us for…"

'Code zero zero nine oh three.' Suddenly came over the com.

'Status oh three.' I inquired, while we stumbled up from our seat. We were already out of the room, running in direction of the hangars.

'Malfunction in fighter. It's out of control. Heero's on board trying to dock in hangar two.'

Heero, shit. 'Bethor, red alert for hangar two. Evacuate all personnel. Emergency crew and medical on standby.' I shouted, bursting into a mad running dash. 'Bethor, assist pilot of dysfunctional shuttle to dock at hangar two. Change course and speed accordingly. Set communications from zero one to conference.'

'In progress.' Bethor answered.

Good. Heero had contacted the AI and asked for assistance already. But that didn't mean everything was going to go smoothly. Bethor could only assist so far. I was running full speed through the hallways, silently begging all the deities to let everything be okay. I suppressed the urge to talk to him; he wouldn't need distraction if he were in a critical situation or dangerous docking maneuver. Instead, I contacted him as I would any other pilot in peril. 'Zero one, status'.

'Zero one. Aborting docking maneuver, I repeat, aborting docking maneuver. Control malfunction increased. Engines not responding to throttle attempt. Space Evac necessary. Engines critical. Estimated time for overload twenty-three minutes. Over.'

I think my heart stopped as he casually reported the danger he was in. We had to get out and get them transferred. Immediately. 'Bethor, shuttle start for rendezvous with malfunctioning ship, now.'

'All shuttles in transfer,' was the reply.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Then a thought shot to my mind and I detoured to hangar three, Wufei and Quatre still on my heels. Ezgadi. My ship was still parked in hangar three. Originally, its capacity was rather small, but this was an emergency and we could use the freight area for the evacuation of people. I barked orders as I made my way to Ezgadi and raced through Bethor's hallways and into the hangar. People were busy loading flight suits in and other equipment, and a few were startled by our sudden appearance beside the ship. I boarded and raced to the cockpit, throwing myself in the pilot's seat.

Starting up the engines, my fingers sped over the controls and I brought her to life and reveled a moment in the feeling of the hum of the engines, vibrating through the ship. 'Bethor, I need coordinates for rendezvous point, now.' "Hey, girl," I said out loud, "wakey, wakey."

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Wufei, who was already slipping into the co-pilot's seat, giving me a funny look.

_"Hello, Duo. All systems green. I am receiving data from an unknown source."_

I licked my lips and grinned at Wufei, who'd raised an eyebrow, while my fingers flew over the keys. "Coordinates confirmed and locked. Ship lockdown now. Countdown on five when status secured. Emergency start. Drive on one hundred percent."

_"Confirmed, Duo," _Ezgadi said.

Quatre came in then and I grinned at him, wild and wide. "Find something to strap into, we're going, hard and fast."

He nodded and strapped down into one of the seats meant for passengers, and I groped for my harness, seeing out of the corner of my eye Wufei doing the same whilst Ezgadi completed the countdown. The engines whined and we were in motion, pressed into our seats while Ezgadi shot through the hangar and out into space at top speed.

'Zero two, do you copy zero one?' I asked over the com.

'Copy, zero two,' he said.

'Status?' I inquired.

'Unchanged, over.'

I nodded to myself and glanced at the screens. 'Rendezvous in seven point five minutes. Prepare for evac. Over.'

'Roger and out,' he said.

I noticed motion behind me and turned my head.

"We need to suit up," Quatre said calmly. "We have to bring the suits over so that they can all change over to here." I nodded distractedly and he left the cockpit while I calculated the time in my head. It would be narrow. I made a decision.

"I'll decompress the freight room while you're over. You have to bring them all in here at once. We don't have enough time for a slow evac through the air lock. You can stay there duringthe short trip back to Bethor."

I got a short nod from Wufei and then he, too, was gone. It would be fine, I said to myself. Nothing would go wrong. I stared out into space and willed the fighter to appear. I had to go in close proximity with my Ezgadi so the people could get in fast, and then we had to get the hell out of there. The seconds ticked by in my head, and I took a deep breath.

''Ro? Will we be okay?' I asked over the com.

There was no answer at first, but then there came his 'Yes', and I was relieved. Everything would be fine. Then the proximity alarm sounded and I looked up, saw the ship in front of me, followed by Heavyarms and Wing, coming in from a slight angle; and I had my hands full plotting a new course, adjusting the speed and bringing Ezgadi as near as I dared to. It was pretty close, so Quatre and Wufei would only have to cover a small distance.

They left as I gave the all clear, and I watched them gliding through space, the container holding the spacesuits between them, and the tether curling behind them like a living thing.

I set to decompressing the freight area and anxiously ogled the controls. It wasn't fast enough for my taste. But if I did it too fast, the ship could be ripped apart. Finally finished, I opened the freight doors and hopped out of my seat. I raced through my ship, donning my own suit and entering the air lock, secured my own tether. I stepped out into space and activated my magnets, undid the other two tethers and walked alongside Ezgadi to the freight room where I secured them again, before I made the same way back.

As I looked up again from the airlock, a steady flood of suit-clad people left the dysfunctional fighter ship, gliding alongside the tethers. The closing door hid them from my sight, and I got in again, ripping my helmet off as I rushed into the cockpit. Everything was fine. Ezgadi's AI had held the ship at a steady distance. I sat down in my seat and waited for an all clear from the guys, impatiently drumming my fingers on the armrest. Time was up. Any moment now… and then there was the all clear from Quatre. My hand fell on the button to close the freight doors and I exhaled the breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

In motion to change course and get the hell out of there, I glanced over to the ship and saw a lone figure in the airlock of the fighter, in motion to leave.

'Heero?' I shouted, astonished.

'I'll take Wing,' he said, sailing away from the ship, 'Go.'

'But…' I shook my head, unbelieving, as I saw him gliding through space, Wing closing in on his position.

'Go.' he shouted in my head.

I'd already keyed the controls, and Ezgadi had turned away, the distance between us growing steadily.

I swallowed hard. 'Okay. See ya.' And then he was out of my sight, Ezgadi leaving him behind at top speed. I watched the rear monitors, and even though I was waiting for it, I still jumped as I saw the fighter go down in one hell of an explosion. We still were too close, and I was just grateful that Ezgadi's hull was from Gundanium.

But Heero had been nearer. Had he made it safely into Wing?

'Heero?' I inquired over the com. There was no answer.

'Zero one, status,' I repeated.

'No visual.' Trowa answered in his stead. 'Too much debris for a clear scan. Searching parameters.'

I shook my head. This wasn't possible. He said we would be fine. He knew I hated lying. Had he lied? There had been a slight hesitation… I couldn't believe it. No.

"Heero… please answer me." I whispered, choking on the sudden pain in my chest. I had to go back, search for him. Make sure he was okay. 'Zero one, status. Heero, answer damnit.' And still he did not reply.

'Duo, we have to bring the people to Bethor, they're beginning to panic.' Wufei reported.

I choked. 'But Heero…'

'We'll come back. Trowa's already searching. Heero has a full air tank in his suit. If… We'll find him.'

I nodded absently, feeling the desperate need to turn around, being ripped apart from duty and want. '… 'Kay.' I replied sullenly, still staring at the screen, '… we'll come back.'

And I knew, nothing would stop me.

* * *

tbc 


	15. Hamied

Hi, everyone who cares to come with me, we're going back to space, now…

The year is star time 2005.07… er, wait, wrong story. Um, what happened so far: No, I won't tell you that here. If you can't remember and want to know, kindly go back to the chapter before that, and skim it over before you read this part. It was long, long ago…  
Sorry. Just had to.

* * *

Title: Future of the Past  
Author: CeeDee (charlizedoe hotmail dot com)  
Archive: at Darcia's, Calic0cat's and AmyMizuno's sites  
Pairing: 1x2, 4+3  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Angst, Language, Lemon, and Violence, sort of Sci-Fi, many deaths (aliens)  
Spoilers: this takes place after EW  
Feedback: yes, please, any comments welcome.  
Disclaimer: Don't own them; used characters are borrowed, only. Promise to give them back. For fun purposes, only; no profit made.

Summary: The threads of time have been altered and the Duo that every one knew isn't what he seems to be. After the EW, the pilots walked out of each other lives, but now a great danger looms. They are back together again... this time maybe even a bit closer. Will Duo's secret be the key to their survival?

Notes: I'm still sorry it took me this long again to write up this part. RL is a bitch since – hell – all over this year. 'But slowly and steadily we're nearing the end – and those who like will see it. Promise.'

Many thanks to Sakusha for super fast modeling the text – and to Ellimaru, who had a grammar feast. She still tries to poke the rules into my poor head... ouch, ouch. But I'll get it. Hopefully. Maybe. Sometimes.

* * *

**Future of the Past **

**# 15 – Hamied**

(Miracles) The glorious angel of miracles. He is such a dazzling  
white that you can only see his incredible eyes shining through.  
As you feel his presence enfold you, open your heart to receive  
his gift of intense love.

* * *

I struggled to get my emotions under control as I piloted Ezgadi back to Bethor in a haze. I don't even remember docking. A strange numbness seemingly had taken hold of me. All I could do was sit and wait while everyone unloaded.

Thankfully, Bethor was in contact with Wing, but there was still nothing on the pilot. Wing's AI sent its position and some diagnostics, revealing slight damage from the explosion. But nothing on Heero, thus far. Not even the implant could be used to locate him; he was too far away. I'd tried repeatedly to get him to answer, while in flight. Nothing.

I jumped at a touch on my shoulder. Quatre was standing behind me, a worried look on his face.

"You got something new?" I asked anxiously.

He shook his head, eyes wide and far away. "Nothing. He's… either unconscious or…" he trailed off, bit his lip, and turned his gaze back towards me. I looked utterly defeated, I'm sure, because he hastily added, "but I would have felt it if he'd… died. I'm sure. He was just… not there anymore. Unconscious." He nodded, as if to convince himself.

I sighed and hung my head. I had to cling to the hope; I would fall apart if I didn't. We'd just found each other. It couldn't be over. I refused to believe that. We _would_ find him. I would not allow that he would drift through the galaxies with the power of the explosion for all eternity. I couldn't let myself think that Heero hadn't reached Wing before the explosion. I couldn't think of the tremendous amount of shrapnel that would have torn through him if he had not. And I simply would not allow myself to think that we would bring a corpse back home.

He'd said we'd be good…

* * *

'Visual confirmed.' Trowa started me out of my haze. 'It's Wing. But it's drifting too fast for Heavyarms to close in. On its trail.'

Wufei had already gone out with his mecha to join Trowa in the search. Quatre and Sally were busy loading medical equipment aboard Ezgadi. Our Gundams already were stored. Bethor had calculated a rendezvous point, just ahead of where Wing was. We would need full speed, the mecha was already that far out. It was a small miracle that Wing was on a course where we could intercept, and not been blown clear in the opposite direction. I really didn't want to think about the possibility of Heero not being with his mecha.

As if on autopilot, I'd started Ezgadi again, and calculated the course without really noticing what I had done. It was as if I wasn't really there. Everything was a blur, and I couldn't remember piloting to the rendezvous point. A sudden sting on my cheek brought me back, and I blinked rapidly. Quatre had hit me.

"DUO." He was in my face. "Get a grip. We need you at your best. _Heero_ needs you at your best."

I nodded, stunned, eyes wide. He'd _hit_ me. I got up from my seat and took a deep breath, and then we raced through Ezgadi, mounting air tanks and fastening the helmets of our suits. I sat in 'Scythe and powered up at top speed, and we left the freight room on full power.

Deathscythe was the fastest of all the Gundams. I mentally prepared to catch Wing. The plan was to play it kinda like a relay marathon, starting out ahead and powering up to top speed, until the damaged mecha reached my position. Then, grabbing onto it, I'd slow it down with me. That was the theory, anyway. If I missed, there was no way to tell if we'd get a second chance.

I just hoped Heero was inside and okay.

I finally saw Wing on the screen, drifting in space, spinning towards my position. It was closing in, and… the hatch was wide open. Shit. Fuck. My heart sank and I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out in disappointment. He wasn't in his mecha. We'd never find him. I continued on my intercepting course, trying my best to adapt to the tumbling, but my eyes mostly were glued to the big mecha on the screen. Something nagged at me, seemed off, besides the open hatch. My eyes flicked from my controls to Wing and back, and then it hit me. I realized what it was that was nagging at my senses.

Wing's left hand, closed into a tight fist.

Unusual.

My heart hammered in my chest as I steered 'Scythe ahead of Wing at top speed until the space closed up and Wing threatened to go past me. I hit the thrusters and my mecha spun, reached out with both arms, and grabbed onto Wing. I could feel the metal screech under the stress, and the collision. I held on, so that Wing was tightly embraced by 'Scythe. The maneuver brought our suits off course, tumbling wildly. I compensated with the thrusters until we were stabilized again, finally coming to a stop.

I was panting, sweating in my flight suit, beads of moisture ran down my back and my temples, plastering my bangs to my face. I snapped my harness and loosened 'Scythe's  
grip on Wing a notch, opened my own hatch and got out. I pushed off hard, using my momentum to glide to Wing's closed fist, peeking through the spaces of its metal fingers.

And there he was.

Heero.

Protectively cradled in his mecha's fist, laid my lover. Unconscious… or dead. I tried to wriggle an arm through the spaces of Wings' fingers but I couldn't reach him. I let out a sob I couldn't hold. No way could I get through the spaces of the tightly closed fist.

'Duo? Status.' Someone demanded.

I shook my head and tried to wedge myself between two other fingers. Fruitless. I heard a whimper. Was that me?

'Zero two, status.'

Squeezing my eyes shut, I forced myself to respond. 'Found him. He's here' I reported.

'Status?' A silly question.

'Wing… Wing has him in his fist.'

'Status!'

'Can't get to him.'

Someone swore softly. 'Bring them to your ship, zero two.'

There was no way I could leave Heero alone. I clung onto Wing's fist and directed 'Scythe's AI by remote, as I had done in the Xetoins' ship, until we were safe inside Ezgadi's freight area. The doors closed, spacesuits floated all around me, and someone tugged at my arm, trying to pry me off Wing's fist. I couldn't let go. No way. What if… what if… crap.

I blinked several times and looked around. Wufei was beside me, still tugging at my arm. '… have to let go, Trowa can't get the hand to open up without injuring you if you're hanging all over it.'

Of course. Yes. I nodded absently, letting go of Wing's finger, and pushed away from it. My helmet cracked against Wufei's, and he jerked, prepared for a violent reaction from me. But I was okay, now. Composed again. Thinking. We floated away to the wall, and, clinging to one of the hooks there, I took my first good look. Wing's hatch still was open, and a spacesuit clung to its shoulder and I had a glimpse of blond hair through the helmet. Quatre. There was movement in the cockpit. Trowa. Okay. He'd get Wing to open its fist and then we can get to Heero. I exhaled heavily. Desperate for a distraction, for something to do, I directed 'Scythe's AI to move the mecha into its storage position. I pushed from the wall and floated there, so that I could secure the storage clamps.

I was too emotional to help, so I finished securing 'Scythe, but I watched every move they made to help Heero. I observed Wing's pinky slowly coming up, then its middle finger, and then the thumb. The remaining two fingers still didn't move. Wufei and Quatre were already on it, pulling and shoving Heero out of the hold. He was so still, his left leg floating at an unusual angle. I watched as they drifted with him to the airlock, where Sally was surely already waiting on the other side.

I turned away and fidgeted on my mecha, absently picking up a wrench, trying to distract myself. They didn't need me there. Heero was safe; I just had to believe it. Sally would… I blinked against the burning in my eyes and looked down to my hands, at the deformed wrench in them. Who was I kidding? I was terrified. I stood there, torn between the urge to run to my lover, shoving them all aside and to see for myself what state he was in, and the fear of discovering that he was beyond help. If that was the case, I didn't want to know yet. Hell, I didn't want to know ever. Staring over to where Wing was drifting in the freight area, I sighed. The mecha had to be secured, too.

I pushed and floated over to the hatch. And came up short as I noticed a spacesuit still in it.

'Tro?'

He turned his head and just stared at me.

'Tro? Talk to me, man."

He blinked and opened his mouth, then closed it and I heard him over the com. 'I should have found him earlier. Should have asked Bethor for help earlier. I…' He shook his head, 'I didn't even think about the possibility.'

I grimaced and climbed into the cockpit, hovering above him. 'I didn't think of it either. Nobody did.' I gripped the armrests and thumped my helmet against his. ' If someone should beat himself up because of it, it should be me. I should have thought of it first.'

He shook his head. 'It was your lover's life on the line; you're allowed to be distracted. We didn't let you stay and search…'

'Stop it.' I interrupted him. 'Just stop it. Just because Heero is my lover doesn't mean that I can become distracted. I'm sorry I was. It won't happen again. Things like that can cost lives in battle.' I closed my eyes and chuckled darkly. 'We've gotten soft these last few years.'

He snorted, and the discussion was over. We worked together securing Wing in the freight room, and as we stepped out of the airlock, my mood was better. If Heero were beyond saving, someone would have said something to me already.

Wouldn't they?

* * *

When I docked Ezgadi on Bethor again, there was already a medical team waiting, stretcher and all. They hauled Heero, still unconscious, away, with Sally hot on their heels, barking commands.

Heero was alive. Almost frozen through, though. His left leg was broken and he had a few lacerations and bruises. But the reason he hadn't woken up yet was a crack in his skull and the resulting swelling of the brain, Sally had said. She came to the cockpit after she had done everything she could while on Ezgadi. She gave me a pat on the shoulder, trying to assure me that everything would be fine. The guys had to fly back to Bethor in their suits, so it was only us two. There was not enough room in Ezgadi's freight area for the rest of the Gundams.

I so wanted to believe her. She'd looked so very earnest, but then she could tell you the moon was made out of cheese and give you the same look too. If I hadn't known her from the war, I'd be convinced everything would be fine with Heero. The thing was, I'd seen her this way before. I've seen her give the same look to patients while on their deathbed. I briefly wondered if her expression had been the same after the attempt on my life, and if Heero had doubted her words as well. But, she'd also said we were very hard to kill, with the alterations our bodies had undergone. The serum and the nanites.

I rubbed my hands over my face after I shut down Ezgadi and hauled my ass out of the seat. Stripping out of the spacesuit, I used the solitary to get my head in order. Then I went to the helm and took a shower and changed into fresh clothes. Stopping in the galley, I snatched a ration bar and wolfed it down. I needed the protein boost. Still braiding my hair, I left Ezgadi and made my way to medical; prepared to stay until Heero woke up.

Had it really only been a few hours?

* * *

"What do you mean, you still don't know?"

Sally sighed. "The scans show he's healing fast, the bones are already mended, but until he comes to, I just don't know."

"But I had brain damage, too. I recovered. And he's always healed faster than any of us."

"Yes, and I hope that'll be true this time as well. But we have to wait."

I huffed, frustrated. We stood in Sally's 'office', observing Heero's still form over the monitor, while I grilled Sally. Or tried to.

It'd been three weeks, and Heero was still out of it. His body had healed so far, but he still hadn't reached consciousness. He'd had a few violent reactions, so we had to restrain him to prevent him from injuring himself, and I'd more or less camped out in medical. The few times I'd left to shower, eat, and tend to duties I hadn't delegated away, I'd been hounded by Athyr-Rem. He was the first Karem I encountered on the Xetoin ship, and who'd looked for our company every time he was on board Bethor. It was his ship that had exploded and now his group was on board permanently.

Unerringly he found me every time. He latched onto me, accompanied me to the cantina, and everywhere I went. He talked constantly, reminding me of an overexcited, naive child. He chatted about all the new things he was learning. The ship, our culture, Bethor. He wanted to know all about Earth. And he was eager to learn our language. He… hell, all of them soaked up knowledge like sponges. He reminded me of members of my gang, when I was a child, back on L2. I liked him. And I wanted him to feel accepted. So I humored him.

The guys had interviewed a good portion of the Karems. It turned out that the women knew a great deal more about their culture, their planet, and their past, than the men. It was clear, after a while, why that was. They had stayed together with their mothers during their imprisonment, and they were told the stories and repeated them to their children, while the boys were taken away at a young age.

We'd gotten a great deal of knowledge about them during the flight back to our solar system, and Bethor filed it and analyzed it.

And Athyr-Rem was so excited about everything, he usually provided a good distraction from my worries about Heero. As he had done earlier, before I went back to medical. But just now I was frustrated again, because Sally still could not provide the answers I wanted from her. I'd sat at Heero's side, holding his hand and talking a mile a minute about everything going on, before Sally came in and I joined her in her small office, and started demanding answers.

Something made me take a closer look at the monitor displaying Heero's still form. I got a feeling as if… narrowing my eyes, I watched a few moments, holding my breath. I turned, quietly walked to the door, leaned against the frame, and then had to smile.

"I see you've got no choice but to lay there. I'm sure a talented guy with your skills would be able to read my lips. Well, can ya? Your acting's just amazing. You've regained consciousness without increasing your pulse or your brain waves. I've got a few questions I'd like to ask you. If you're feeling up to it, I thought I'd help you break out of here." A long ago memory.

The corner of Heero's lip twitched.

"Time to liven things up." I stepped close to the bed and Heero opened his eyes, looking up at me. "How do you get these things off?"

Heero smirked now. "Hand me your knife. I'll cut them."

"You've got some guts, buddy." I frowned down at him and gripped his hand. "Geronimo, huh? Are you crazy? Were you trying to kill yourself? It was like when you jumped out of that building all over again, but this time without a parachute. I'll have nightmares over this one, too. I thought we were too late." The last line was a whisper.

Heero shook his head. "I knew you'd find me. "

"Yeah," I grumbled, "good for you. But what about me? Or the others? You scared us."

Heero looked me in the eye. "I'm sorry. Do I get a kiss, now?"

I sniffed indignantly. "If you think you're forgiven that fast…" but I leaned down and kissed him gently. "Okay. Forgiven. But don't do that again, you hear me?"

Heero nodded and tugged at his restraints. "Can you get me out of these now?"

"Sure." I leaned over to unfasten the restrains. "How do ya feel?"

"Fine. I want out of here."

"Oh no," Sally said, pushing me aside. "If you think you can wake up and walk away after three weeks, you're madly mistaken, young man."

"Three weeks?" Heero looked wide-eyed up to me for confirmation. "That long?"

"You almost ended up a space-popsicle, and if Wing hadn't grabbed you…" I shrugged, trailing off.

"And we have to run some tests, now that you're awake." Sally added.

I sighed. I'd done that a few times already. She tested me from hair to toenail, and I knew what awaited Heero. "I'll just get outta here then, okay? Ping me if you're done."

Scooping up all of my stuff that had piled up over the weeks, I left medical. And promptly ran into Athyr-Rem. Again.

"Oof," I exclaimed as I hit the floor. Sitting on my ass, I peeked over the pile in my arms at him. "Sorry. Didn't see you."

"I excuse for walk in your path." He answered, standing up and holding out his arms. "I help carry things."

* * *

"You're thinking of staying here on Bethor." Quatre leaned forward on the table. "After this is all over."

I sighed. "What if they find out about my ability? It's not as if it's a harmless one. As paranoid as they were about Bethor, can you imagine what they'll do to me if this gets out? I don't ever want to be a lab rat again."

"Just the five of us know, and Sally. And she understands."

I shook my head. "The kids know. They saw. They will talk eventually, if they haven't already. It'll spread. And what if I lose my temper over the ignorance of these politicians? Kill someone accidentally?" I rubbed my hands over my face. "Hell, we enhanced almost the whole crew. They'll be lucky if they're not used as guinea pigs if we come back. And we have to tell them. They… we won't age like normal people, it will come out eventually."

Quatre looked down at the table. "I'm not ready to give up my company, my life, yet. Not if we've won. We can still…"

"No. You can. I won't." I leaned back in my chair. "I won't lie for the rest of my life, hiding. I am who I am. And they're not ready for the truth. So I'll stay away. Go…"

"You'll go and seek the Karem Planet."

I nodded. "I've thought about it these past few weeks. It's a possibility. With all the data from the Xetoins, we can backtrack their course. And who knows, maybe it's something worth doing."

Quatre sighed. "Duo, have you talked with Heero about it?"

I shook my head and stared at my hands. "Haven't had a chance, yet."

"He needs to know. Needs to know what you think. You can't just go and expect him to…"

"I don't expect anything. He's his own man. He will do what he thinks is the right thing to do, even if…" I bit my lip. "Even if it means we go separate ways."

"Talk with him, Duo." Quatre grabbed my hand. "Just don't do anything rash. We still have time to think about a solution."

I chuckled darkly. "Just as long as it doesn't end with me as a lab rat."

Never again.

* * *

I woke, with Heero clutching at me like a drowning man, silently sobbing in his sleep.

Sally had let him go after two days of observation in medical, and it was his first night back in our quarters. We'd made gentle love to each other until we fell asleep, exhausted.

"Heero?" I carefully stroked his face. "Heero. Wake up. It's just a dream. Everything's okay."

His eyes opened and he blinked at me, swallowing. He furrowed his brow. "You'll leave me. "

"What?" Guilt shot through me. I still hadn't talked with him about the whole mess of returning to Earth.

"In my dream. You leave. And I can't do anything about it. You drift away, further and further, and I can't reach you. I try so hard, but…" He closed his eyes. "You still leave."

"I'm right here." I rolled us around, lying on his chest, and gazing in his eyes. "You feel me?"

"Promise me," he said, still holding me tight.

I blinked. "You want me to make a promise?" I took a deep breath. "Okay. I won't leave you of my own free will. I promise." And so my fate was sealed. If he absolutely wanted to stay on earth… I closed my eyes and lowered my head to his chest. Then I would stay on earth, too. Despite the fear I had. I could already see myself in a small cage, poked and prodded at, injected and tested.

A lab rat. What a career.


	16. Not The End, but

... years have gone by, so now:

First, let me say thanks to all who followed, reviewed, and didn't give up hope for more.

Second, I won't update this story anymore; it is finished in it's form as a fanfic.

I'm working on getting this thing changed to a novel... so, this means all references to GW will be removed and redone. If you are still interested in more, I beg some more patience and I will update here when it is finished and where to find it as an eBook.

Thanks, and be well, all!  
CeeDee


End file.
